The words a physio says slowly. 71 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Giulio Anghileri is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Rui Pedro 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.
In brief
SquadJuanda Fuentes has improved at 25, which nobody expected
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Rui Pedro 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.
In brief
SquadAurélio Buta falls out with a teammate over standards
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadZé Carlos falls out with a teammate over standards
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Giulio Anghileri is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Rui Pedro 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.
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nicolò Fazzi is living that version at Penafiel, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Alexey Perestov is 20, and Penafiel have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The words a physio says slowly. 119 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.
Rui Pedro was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Alan Guzmán has come up in conversations Penafiel were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
Tiago Ribeiro 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. Penafiel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Penafiel 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Séry 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 Penafiel 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Diogo Fernandes is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Tiago Ribeiro 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 words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
In brief
SquadZé Carlos falls out with a teammate over standards
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel 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.” Penafiel 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAurélio Buta falls out with a teammate over standards
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” João Reis and Penafiel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Penafiel 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Madi Queta 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.
Flávio Gonçalves 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 Apr 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Séry 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Penafiel 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Aurélio Buta falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The goal that put Maritimo ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Penafiel equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Shots: 9. 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.
Rui Pedro 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Eduardo Sami has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Penafiel have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Rui Pedro was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. 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.
Flávio Gonçalves 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Penafiel training over how hard people work
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Davo and Penafiel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Penafiel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Flávio Gonçalves 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tiago Gouveia. 1‑0 against Vizela, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. André Miranda did not need any: 9.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Flávio Gonçalves. 2‑1 against Leixões, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Flávio Gonçalves 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.
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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. João Simões did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Tiago Gouveia 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. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bryan Róchez. 3‑1 against Torreense, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Diogo Fernandes has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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.
19 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against AVS? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Penafiel will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 5.63. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Penafiel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
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.
Flávio Gonçalves 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Alexey Perestov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Penafiel have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Diogo Fernandes has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.71 — 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 8.37 — 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Aurélio Buta 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.
Marked 3.94. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bryan Róchez signs something — a contract at Penafiel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Diogo Fernandes: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Zé Carlos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Raúl Alcaina decided nobody was going anywhere. Oliveirense had no time left to 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
31 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Flávio Gonçalves, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.15
A mark of 8.15 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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 20 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.
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Penafiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Flávio Gonçalves 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The words a physio says slowly. 121 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Diogo Fernandes 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.
7.82, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Zé Carlos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aurélio Buta signs something — a contract at Penafiel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
Player ratingsBryan Róchez could not find anything
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Penafiel scored in the 106th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Julius Emefile, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.86
A mark of 8.86 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Julius Emefile has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.55 — 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Penafiel can pretend not to have heard.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Vizela? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
Rui Pedro 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Penafiel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Flávio Gonçalves 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rui Pedro. 3‑1 against Torreense, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aurélio Buta signs something — a contract at Penafiel or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bryan Róchez. 2‑1 against AVS, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. AVS tried to reorganise, Penafiel did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Tiago Gouveia was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.31. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Penafiel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Tiago Gouveia 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Zé Carlos 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Aurélio Buta 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaime Sánchez, and the manager let it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
8 new faces, and Penafiel 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Penafiel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel 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.” Max Svensson and Penafiel agree another 3 years.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rodrigo Mendes is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Juanda Fuentes has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
A 1‑0 win over Pacos de Ferreira, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Penafiel has been clear about where Pedro Sá stands, which is more than many ever get.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.99 for the rest of it.
The fee is $1.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Vizela drove a hard bargain; time will say who won 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Penafiel and Académico de Viseu in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Max Svensson has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Flávio Gonçalves did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Penafiel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Martim Almeida is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Flávio Gonçalves did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The fee is $570.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Santa Clara drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Flávio Gonçalves 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Flávio Gonçalves has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Nikola Bursać has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Raúl Alcaina 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.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Martim Almeida has just signed for Penafiel, and for once the answer mattered.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Diogo Fernandes 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Felipe Pacheco is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rui Simoes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Flávio Gonçalves 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Rui Pedro 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raúl Alcaina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Rui Pedro 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Penafiel will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Raúl Alcaina 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 have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Penafiel can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rodrigo Mordomo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
SquadÀlex Carbonell has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ricardo Schutte will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penafiel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Joan Femenías has improved at 31, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Penafiel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Daniel Semedo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” João Pinto has his answer from Penafiel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Rui Pedro 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Aurélio Buta falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Madi Queta has his answer from Penafiel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Raúl Alcaina 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ricardo Schutte will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penafiel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Penafiel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
Joseph Séry 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.
Tiago Ribeiro 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raúl Alcaina 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.
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Penafiel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Rui Pedro was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Aurélio Buta falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Penafiel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Rui Pedro 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Penafiel will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
In brief
SquadWords at Penafiel training over how hard people work
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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 pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Penafiel, another week without a signature from Ricardo Schutte.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Bryan Róchez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ricardo Schutte will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penafiel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Zé Carlos 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Penafiel told Joan Femenías something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Meireles Injai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penafiel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
Tiago Ribeiro 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 Raúl Alcaina trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Penafiel, another week without a signature from Ricardo Schutte.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Penafiel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Joan Femenías 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Penafiel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A brace, and Bryan Róchez takes the afternoon — 8.11
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bryan Róchez provided it, and the 8.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Meireles Injai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penafiel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Aurélio Buta falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The goal that put Lusitânia Lourosa ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Penafiel equalised, 1 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 Penafiel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Joan Femenías 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Zé Carlos 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Juanda Fuentes has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Bryan Róchez
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
11 goals in 23 games at Chaves — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Penafiel updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Aurélio Buta's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Penafiel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ricardo Schutte will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Penafiel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Penafiel 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.” Penafiel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bryan Róchez. 2‑1 against Porto B, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.31 — 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Penafiel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ricardo Schutte has agreed terms with Famalicao for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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.
Tiago Ribeiro 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Max Svensson has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Joan Femenías 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
“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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Aurélio Buta was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.41. 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 offer from Vitoria Guimaraes for Max Svensson 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.
Rui Pedro 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Aurélio Buta 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Davo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. 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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Penafiel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
“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 Penafiel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Vitoria Guimaraes have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Max Svensson. The answer from Penafiel has not changed — yet.
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.
Joan Femenías 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Zé Carlos 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Aurélio Buta 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.
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.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsRaúl Alcaina could not find anything
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Penafiel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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.
Tiago Ribeiro 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 Penafiel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
6 goals in 15 games at Chaves — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Penafiel updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Afonso Silva will want back
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Penafiel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
An order from above at Penafiel: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel 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.” Penafiel 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 Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Madi Queta 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Afonso Silva is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Aurélio Buta 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.
Joan Femenías 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Madi Queta falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
Squad8 new faces, and Penafiel are still learning each other
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defensive actions: 231. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Aurélio Buta 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.
Tiago Ribeiro 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.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Joan Femenías 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Zé Carlos 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.
“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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Max Svensson was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.35. 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.
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.
Rui Pedro 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Aurélio Buta 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Joan Femenías 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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.
10 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Penafiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Carlos 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Words at Penafiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aurélio Buta 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 Penafiel is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jaime Sánchez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.