“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Uruguay Montevideo defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Diego Rolan has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Cerrito know, and have known for weeks.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Cerrito have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Matias Lopez is back at Cerrito, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Santiago Lopez is back at Cerrito, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
It is arithmetic now, and the arithmetic is done. A summer of hard questions starts early at Cerrito, and next season's fixture list reads very differently.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mauricio Alaniz arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cerrito can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Isago Silva has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Abderrahmane Sarr will call it something else in private.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Cerrito pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cerrito can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Cerrito pretended it was anything other than a decision 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 Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cerrito can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nicolás Fuentes is 19, and Cerrito 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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Miramar Misiones defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
0-3 to Cerro, 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cerrito can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Ignacio Yepez
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Rafael Hornos: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cerrito have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Luis Gomez is back at Cerrito, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cerrito, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Rafael Hornos has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
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 message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Jonathan Ferrari plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
He came through the session, took part in everything and finished it smiling. Cerrito will not rush him, and he will spend the next fortnight trying to rush them.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Washington Silva reports back to Cerrito with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
A new face in his position, and Abderrahmane Sarr suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Cerrito have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
The deal that would have taken Luis Barbat to Artigas has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Cerrito with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cerrito they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Cerrito would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cerrito they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Defensor Sporting pay $83.0K, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Suhayb Al Kharusi is 20, and Cerrito 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cerrito, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
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 award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Cerrito have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
Cerro go through and Cerrito go home, 0-1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cerrito can pretend not to have heard.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.