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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Néstor Boretto will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gabriel Arias 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michael Hoyos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Gabriel Arias 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.
12 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.
Marked 8.14 — 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.
“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 Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Newell's Old Boys game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Agropecuario Argentino runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newell's Old Boys is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gabriel Arias 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.
10 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Arias trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys has to find a result from somewhere.
Gabriel Arias 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gabriel Arias knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and 5 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Newell's Old Boys is running low.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys 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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gabriel Arias 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 phone has started ringing about Ignacio Ramírez again, and this time the name on the line is FC Tokyo. Newell's Old Boys are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
Michael Hoyos 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.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Facundo Jainikoski is 19, and Newell's Old Boys 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 Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Guillermo Balzi and Newell's Old Boys agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and 5 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Newell's Old Boys is running low.
The chase for Ivo Mammini ended with $1.7M changing hands and Gimnasia La Plata out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Gabriel Arias 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 competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Gabriel Arias keeps the shirt for now, at Newell's Old Boys's convenience rather than his own.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
Michael Hoyos 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.
Add another name to the list: Huracán have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matías Cóccaro. The answer from Newell's Old Boys has not changed — yet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Franco Orozco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The chase for Tiziano Van Der Tuin ended with $380.0K changing hands and Estudiantes out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Gabriel Arias 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 name of Tiziano Van Der Tuin has come up in conversations Newell's Old Boys were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Williams Barlasina: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Newell's Old Boys game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Agropecuario Argentino runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
Gabriel Arias 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Newell's Old Boys has been clear about where Armando Méndez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
A new face in his position, and Ignacio Ramírez suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Newell's Old Boys have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gabriel Arias 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Michael Hoyos 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 easiest signature of my career.” Luca Regiardo and Newell's Old Boys agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I did not go to Agropecuario Argentino to sit and watch. I want to come back to Newell's Old Boys and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jerónimo Russo and Newell's Old Boys agree another 5 years.
Position 13 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
Michael Hoyos 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 8.83 — 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jerónimo Russo and Newell's Old Boys agree another 5 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.31 — 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.
Marked 8.51 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.37 — 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.
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.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and 2 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys has to find a result from somewhere.
Michael Hoyos 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 defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys has to find a result from somewhere.
Michael Hoyos 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys has to find a result from somewhere.
Michael Hoyos 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.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Michael Hoyos 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 8.77 — 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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Newell's Old Boys, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Newell's Old Boys know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Newell's Old Boys game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Agropecuario Argentino runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Michael Hoyos 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.” Martín Luciano and Newell's Old Boys agree another 4 years.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
8 goals in 25 games at Levadiakos — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Newell's Old Boys updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Pablo Lombardi is a Newell's Old Boys player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The shirt still fits. Eduardo Cohen is back at Newell's Old Boys, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
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.
Marked 9.86 — 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.
Michael Hoyos 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.” Valentino Acuña and Newell's Old Boys agree another 5 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Agropecuario Argentino to sit and watch. I want to come back to Newell's Old Boys and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Michael Hoyos 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Franco Orozco 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 Valentino Acuña signs something — a contract at Newell's Old Boys or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
A season average of 7.19 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Newell's Old Boys know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“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 Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
Michael Hoyos 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Newell's Old Boys know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Alagie Wally is 20, and Newell's Old Boys 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Nautico will make the call about Javier Martínez this week. Newell's Old Boys have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Michael Hoyos 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 7.19 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Newell's Old Boys know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The chase for Javier Martínez ended with $390.0K changing hands and Almirante Brown out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Michael Hoyos 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.” Luca Regiardo and Newell's Old Boys agree another 5 years.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Fabián Noguera has his answer from Newell's Old Boys; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Michael Hoyos 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matías Cóccaro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys 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 Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Michael Hoyos 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Michael Hoyos 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Michael Hoyos 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 8.69 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Michael Hoyos 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Newell's Old Boys, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.45 — 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.
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.
Michael Hoyos 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Marked 9.08 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jherson Mosquera. 2‑0 against Talleres, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.57 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Valentino Acuña. 1‑0 against Deportivo Riestra, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Walter Mazzantti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Michael Hoyos 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 9.08 — 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 offer from Rayo Vallecano for Luca Regiardo 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Michael Hoyos 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 name of Luca Regiardo has come up in conversations Newell's Old Boys were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 Newell's Old Boys that is a harder question to answer.
Michael Hoyos 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 8.08 — 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Newell's Old Boys, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Still no offer on the table, and Jherson Mosquera’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.94 — 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Martín Ortega’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oscar Salomón trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.