“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 The request is on a desk at Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 22 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Daniel Bahia reports back to Chaves with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A brace, and Paulo Victor takes the afternoon — 9.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Paulo Victor provided it, and the 9.27 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 Chaves 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.” Chaves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Chaves until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Padova is saying, and nobody at Chaves is enjoying the guessing.
The deal that would have taken Goor Córdoba Mena to Santa Clara has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Chaves with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Zaidu Sanusi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Santa Clara will make the call about Goor Córdoba Mena this week. Chaves have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The deal with Sporting CP is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
At 27 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.
A brace, and Paulo Victor takes the afternoon — 8.96
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Paulo Victor provided it, and the 8.96 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 Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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. Guarani have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Empoli have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Duarte Conceicao 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. Goncalo Costa 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pedro Santos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Musa Drammeh 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chaves has been clear about where Rodolfo stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 André Rodrigues is on it.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves 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.” Chaves 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 Chaves 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.
Nobody at Chaves 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.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chaves asked and Cesena said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Chaves will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutAndré Sousa asks for a word with the manager
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Samuel Flórez has, at Chaves, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
$790.0K was the most the club would pay and Vitoria Guimaraes 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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Plymouth Argyle have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniel Ferreira 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Henrique Castro 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Pedro Oliveira 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Chaves training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Robyn Esajas
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Chaves have gone to Vitoria Guimaraes with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Chaves had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Flamengo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Diego Cabrera is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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 Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Flamengo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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 Chaves 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.
Chaves asked and Lugano said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Chaves 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.
61 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zurich have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves 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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
$130.0K was the most the club would pay and Braga 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benfica have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 76 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 Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
Chaves have gone to Braga with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Chaves have gone to Famalicao with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tobías Modlin is living that version at Chaves, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
João Teixeira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
Nobody at Chaves will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Daniel Bahia a promise
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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 Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Chaves 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kiki Silva trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chaves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Zaidu Sanusi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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 never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Chaves that is a harder question to answer.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chaves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 João Valido is on it.
In brief
The dugoutJoão Teixeira asks for a word with the manager
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues 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 André Sousa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chaves know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 40 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Musa Drammeh 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.” Joao Araujo after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Dinis Rodrigues and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Joseph Mangondo, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Theo Maia and Chaves agree another 4 years.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Joao Araujo on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A brace, and Gabriel Souza takes the afternoon — 8.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gabriel Souza provided it, and the 8.52 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 Chaves 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabriel Souza 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chaves can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dinis Rodrigues did not need any: 8.01, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Chaves 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.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.80, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Joseph Mangondo, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.57
A mark of 8.57 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Mar 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Cleiton Silva
SquadRaised voices on the training ground at Chaves
João Teixeira 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Joao Araujo after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is André Sousa’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Chaves needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑0 win over Lusitânia Lourosa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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 Dinis Rodrigues.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Oliveirense kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Chaves will be asked about the last half hour all week.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chaves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nuno Mendes 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Gabriel Souza was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Chaves close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Feb 2027
7 new faces, and Chaves are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
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.” Joao Araujo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
1‑4 against Sporting CP B, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.07 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Zaidu Sanusi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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. Fabio Pereira is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Chaves dressing room in a hurry
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Player ratingsThe cruellest goal, and it is Joseph Mangondo's
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
João Teixeira 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Gabriel Souza was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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.
Minute 88, against Felgueiras, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gabriel Souza did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 21 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.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Chaves had all but put away. Feirense will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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 needed Joseph Mangondo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Vizela, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Joao Araujo chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is André Rodrigues’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Chaves needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The words a physio says slowly. 86 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. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Miguel Pacheco 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Joao Araujo after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves 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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gabriel Souza did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
19 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout7 Dec 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 2‑3 Joao Araujo left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutZaidu Sanusi has become a man the manager trusts
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves 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 Chaves will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
A season average of 7.05 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Chaves know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
At 21 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.
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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Joao Araujo could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutAndré Sousa dropped after a run of poor form
Looking aheadChaves take on the side everybody is chasing
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑3 to Maritimo, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Joao Araujo after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves 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 Chaves will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joseph Mangondo did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
At 21 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Diego Cabrera has, at Chaves, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The goal that put Leiria ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Chaves equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chaves will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1‑4 against Pacos de Ferreira, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. João Fidalgo is living that version at Chaves, and it tends to show in the first month.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An average of 7.01 in a first team he is several years too young for. Chaves have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Something was said to Dinis Rodrigues and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thiago Pereira is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabriel Souza 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.
Something was said to Zaidu Sanusi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chaves will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Felipe Perez 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Samuel Santos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
20 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Joao Araujo to a room that had heard them before.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Felipe Perez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jane Moreno and Chaves agree another 1 years.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Joao Araujo to a room that had heard them before.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Oliveirense in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dinis Rodrigues did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 155 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
João Valido and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Perez 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.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Chaves will not try tonight.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and João Teixeira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 163 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Sporting CP B will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Chaves were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Dinis Rodrigues, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.88
A mark of 8.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Zaidu Sanusi 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 Sep 2026
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Rodrigues 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.
At 21 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chaves, another week without a signature from João Valido.
Squad14 Sep 2026
18 new faces, and Chaves are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaves will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑4 against Felgueiras, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Chaves close the window on a squad of their own making
27 in and 26 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.
Zaidu Sanusi 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SuperSport United have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Chaves are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
7.96, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Chaves and Feirense, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Felipe Perez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.29. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gabriel Souza did not need any: 7.98, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Add another name to the list: AVS have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about João Teixeira. The answer from Chaves has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues 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 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabriel Souza 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Vizela scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Portimonense have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
João Teixeira 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.
Gil Vicente paid $110.0K and Chaves took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The 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 1‑3 Joao Araujo left the room before anybody could ask which.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Chaves are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Académico de Viseu have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Pité has, at Chaves, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Miguel Castro 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Nuno Mendes 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Leonardo Mendes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Robyn Esajas
“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 Chaves, 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 Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ricardo Alves and Chaves agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
João Teixeira 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Chaves will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.