8 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.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Casa Pia and Tondela, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Kevin Prieto wants continental football; whether Casa Pia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad3 Jan 2028
David Sousa 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.
Casa Pia asked and Como said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdu Conté 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.89, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lawrence Ofori, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
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 Ruben Mota to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Sousa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Jérémy Livolant was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It needed Jérémy Livolant to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Estrela da Amadora, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casa Pia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Casa Pia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Goulart was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Casa Pia heard it as anything else.
Khaly was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdu Conté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 15, 15 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.
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Casa Pia had all but put away. Sporting CP will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Casa Pia and Rio Ave in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdu Conté 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.
Beaten 7 times, with 1 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Sousa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. André Gomes 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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
The dugoutAndré Gomes asks for a word with the manager
Two goals and a mark of 9.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 goals in one match, Korede Osundina on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Casa Pia and Alverca.
Squad15 Nov 2027
David Sousa 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.
Successful dribbles: 40. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rafael Mota is living that version at Casa Pia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Three points for Casa Pia, 1‑0 the final word against Torreense in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lawrence Ofori 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
Player ratingsClau Mendes was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
David Sousa 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 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Marked 8.81. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Casa Pia.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Henrique Araújo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.31. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
SquadWords at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Gabriel Novaes wants continental football; whether Casa Pia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Korede Osundina 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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Casa Pia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Braga left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 Oct 2027
João Goulart 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.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 to Vitoria Guimaraes, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Casa Pia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Sousa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ruben Mota after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casa Pia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
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.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Casa Pia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Estoril Praia had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Casa Pia did not stop to explain themselves.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.76, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Korede Osundina has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.25 — 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
Player ratingsJérémy Livolant was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Casa Pia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Casa Pia asked and Avellino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. André Gomes 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
0‑5 to Tondela, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
6 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Casa Pia close the window on a squad of their own making
13 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 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.
Henrique Araújo scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Porto, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Abdu Conté 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.
Casa Pia asked and Sport Recife said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Casa Pia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Utrecht, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Casa Pia had all but put away. Estrela da Amadora will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
2 academy players handed senior numbers at Casa Pia
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Casa Pia asked and Banfield said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gustavo Simoes 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.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Jérémy Livolant and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Goulart is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Avellino have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casa Pia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Avellino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Casa Pia asked and Sport Recife said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dalbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Henrique Araújo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kélian Nsona is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Casa Pia have done the hard part with AVS, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Famalicao pay $210.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Goulart is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Modena have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Diogo Rebelo is living that version at Casa Pia, and it tends to show in the first month.
A loan enquiry to Blackburn Rovers: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Sousa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
133 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Korede Osundina and Casa Pia agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Abdu Conté 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.
Rio Ave will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Matías Aguirregaray has pre-agreed a move to Casa Pia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Casa Pia asked and Blackburn Rovers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 142 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Livolant was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Blackburn Rovers have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
150 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Casa Pia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
David Sousa has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Casa Pia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and André Gomes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Selvi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and André Gomes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Casa Pia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Rio Ave for Cassiano was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Abdu Conté 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casa Pia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Casa Pia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rafael Porfírio is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Gabriel Novaes wants continental football; whether Casa Pia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and João Goulart trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Casa Pia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
SquadKélian Nsona has seen what the next man earns
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Casa Pia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Abdu Conté 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and João Goulart trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Henrique Araújo signs something — a contract at Casa Pia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Casa Pia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. André Gomes wants continental football; whether Casa Pia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
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.
Gabriel Novaes 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lawrence Ofori trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Casa Pia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Casa Pia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and André Gomes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Casa Pia 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.
7 goals in 23 games at Penafiel — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Casa Pia updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Abdu Conté 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Kevin Prieto wants continental football; whether Casa Pia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casa Pia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Henrique Araújo signs something — a contract at Casa Pia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Jérémy Livolant 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 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” André Geraldes has his answer from Casa Pia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cassiano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Francisco Araujo 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.
7 goals in 23 games at Penafiel — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Casa Pia updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Casa Pia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 53 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
Abdu Conté and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant 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 words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Henrique Araújo provided it, and the 8.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rafael Porfírio is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Gabriel Novaes 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Estoril Praia had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Benjamin Pauwels scored in the 87th minute, Famalicao had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Casa Pia took the lot.
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 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.
Abdu Conté 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.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casa Pia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Henrique Araújo provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Henrique Araújo. 2‑0 against Nacional, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lawrence Ofori 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 words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Marked 8.17 — 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.
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 Lawrence Ofori.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casa Pia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casa Pia can pretend not to have heard.
Abdu Conté and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Livolant was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Korede Osundina. 2‑1 against Estrela da Amadora, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Casa Pia has been clear about where Cassiano stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Jérémy Livolant was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Casa Pia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Casa Pia told Cassiano something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Casa Pia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Sousa 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.
Eduardo Neto damages knee ligaments — 118 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 118 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Vitoria Guimaraes will replay every second of the added time for a week.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.89 beside his name.
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.
A 2‑1 win over Vitoria Guimaraes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antonio Araujo 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.
The offer from Torreense for Cassiano was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Casa Pia close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 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.
Abdu Conté 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Livolant was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nacional have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Racing Genk keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Rafael Porfírio has, at Casa Pia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Casa Pia asked and Hammarby said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Goulart was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ruben Mota left the room before anybody could ask which.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant 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.
He is 21 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Jérémy Livolant was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Marked 8.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Casa Pia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ascoli, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. IF Elfsborg have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.88, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eduardo Mota is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
SquadWords at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
BoardroomNobody left the Casa Pia dressing room in a hurry
Jérémy Livolant 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.
Arouca left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dalbert 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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ruben Mota after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Abdu Conté 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.
Marked 9.56 — 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.
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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
Marked 8.58 — 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Casa Pia and Benfica in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ruben Mota after 1‑7, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
0‑5 to Sporting CP, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Platense waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Casa Pia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Bruno Soares is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Goulart 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.
1‑4 to Rio Ave, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Abdu Conté 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 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.
Add another name to the list: Platense have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about André Gomes. The answer from Casa Pia has not changed — yet.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ruben Mota after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Abdu Conté
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.
Jérémy Livolant was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Casa Pia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Korede Osundina. 2‑0 against Estoril Praia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lawrence Ofori 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Korede Osundina 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dalbert 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.
Marked 8.24 — 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Abdu Conté 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 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.
Level with 89 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Casa Pia had all but put away. Santa Clara will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casa Pia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Lawrence Ofori scored, was marked 7.56, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Gabriel Novaes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dalbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.27 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ruben Mota after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Casa Pia have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
0‑4 to Braga, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casa Pia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Livolant was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ruben Mota after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Jérémy Livolant 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Andre Tavares 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 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Ruben Mota could afford to be generous.
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. João Rego did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Abdu Conté 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 21 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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Korede Osundina 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.
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.
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.
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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is André Gomes’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Casa Pia needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vizela have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Livolant 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.
Gabriel Novaes 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Afonso Correia 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Two goals and a mark of 9.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tondela have kept their man, and Casa Pia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 26 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Gabriel Novaes 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Two goals and a mark of 7.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Casa Pia asked and Braga said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Casa Pia, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dalbert is living that version at Casa Pia, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. João Rego 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dalbert 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.
0‑3 to Benfica, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
$2.0M was the most the club would pay and Rio Ave were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Livolant was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 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.
Casa Pia asked and Sporting CP said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$2.0M on the table at Rio Ave. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Abdu Conté and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Livolant was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Casa Pia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ruben Mota left the room before anybody could ask which.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Casa Pia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Sousa 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Samuel Martins is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Duarte Goncalves 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Sergio Reis 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.
Abdu Conté 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Casa Pia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
RC Strasbourg have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Sousa knocks on the manager’s door