115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Temperley lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Tigre keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Nicolás Demartini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Melo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Thiago Yfran has come up in conversations Temperley were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Molina trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Franco Ayunta is on it.
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Temperley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rodrigo Stocco and Temperley agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Franco Ayunta 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 watch every Temperley game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bhayangkara Presisi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Lucas Gaona’s exile
The dugoutFranco Ayunta asks for a word with the manager
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Temperley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Temperley is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolás Demartini wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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.
Something was said to Jhony da Silva and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Temperley know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Temperley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nicolás Molina signs something — a contract at Temperley or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Temperley, and both men came out saying it was fine.
143 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Temperley lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Nicolás Demartini 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
Franco Ayunta 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 at Temperley 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.
150 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Temperley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Temperley game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bhayangkara Presisi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Temperley is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Clubs 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Molina trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
14 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The terraces1 Nov 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Franco Díaz
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Temperley would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
27 appearances at Pakhtakor and the goals keep coming. Temperley are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Lorenzo Monti 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Temperley, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nicolás Demartini 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 Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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 Temperley 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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Temperley would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pedro Souto signs something — a contract at Temperley 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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“I did not go to Bhayangkara Presisi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Temperley and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 35 matches say the rest.
Nobody at Temperley 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Temperley know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Temperley is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Monti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Temperley will try not to make too much of it.
6 goals in 14 games at Persis — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Temperley updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Position 6 on 53 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A mark of 9.70 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Temperley have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Lautaro Torres’s exile
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
Nicolás Demartini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Melo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Felipe Lombardi to a room that had heard them before.
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.
23 goals in 28 games at Andijon — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Temperley updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Monti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“I did not go to Bhayangkara Presisi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Temperley and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 31 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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Temperley is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
11 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Temperley have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Nueva Chicago will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Temperley were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
1 for Franco Díaz, marked 7.92, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The offer from Neftekhimik for Bautista Fernández 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Temperley 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
24 appearances at Andijon and the goals keep coming. Temperley are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicolás Molina provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The offer from Arsenal Tula for Thiago Yfran 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Melo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Persita waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Temperley is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
10 seasons and 114 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
The offer from Inhulets for Valentín Díaz 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.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The offer from Shirak for Valentín Aguiñagalde 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thiago Yfran will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Colón is saying, and nobody at Temperley is enjoying the guessing.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Nicolás Demartini 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 Temperley training over how hard people work
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Lautaro Torres’s exile
Defensores will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Temperley were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicolás Molina provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Temperley they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Up for the corner, and Franco Díaz delivers — 7.77
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Franco Díaz scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Temperley and Talleres in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Fenix for Valentín Díaz 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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Angelini wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atletico Venezuela waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Temperley is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Rampla Juniors for Valentín Aguiñagalde 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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alejandro Melo wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Nicolás Demartini 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 Jun 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Temperley will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Temperley have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luciano Nieto 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 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The phone has started ringing about Valentín Díaz again, and this time the name on the line is Fenix. Temperley are listening politely and promising nothing.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Temperley will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Persik waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Temperley is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
He is going to Estudiantes, the club has $1.7M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Temperley will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Temperley, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Temperley will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Successful dribbles: 34. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
Nicolás Demartini 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luciano Nieto is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Temperley has been clear about where Valentín Aguiñagalde stands, which is more than many ever get.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 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.” Temperley have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolás Demartini wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Temperley and Estudiantes in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Gerónimo Tomasetti wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then San Telmo scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Two goals and a mark of 8.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luciano Nieto is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Temperley has been clear about where Luciano Nieto stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Central Norte tried to reorganise, Temperley did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fernando Brandán and Temperley agree another 2 years.
Nicolás Demartini 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 was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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 finished 1‑0, and it was Alejandro Melo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Temperley.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Alejandro Melo 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.
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alejandro Melo wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo 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.
Minute 86, against Barracas Central, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Chacarita Juniors. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Luciano Nieto 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.
1‑4 to Estudiantes, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nicolás Demartini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to Bhayangkara Presisi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Temperley and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alejandro Melo provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Melo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
0‑3 against Almirante Brown, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Luciano Nieto 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Temperley, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Luciano Nieto 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 watch every Temperley game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Andijon runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Felipe Lombardi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Almirante Brown.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Temperley have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nicolás Demartini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luciano Nieto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Bhayangkara Presisi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Temperley and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luciano Nieto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luciano Nieto 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 not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Felipe Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The offer from Vorskla for Francisco Silva 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 is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luciano Nieto is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
“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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Felipe Lombardi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alejandro Melo wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luciano Nieto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Vorskla have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Francisco Silva. The answer from Temperley has not changed — yet.
“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 Temperley, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Gimnasia y Esgrima will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Temperley were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bautista Fernández will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nicolás Demartini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Luciano Nieto 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Temperley, and 0 appearances in 0 say he has earned the hearing.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The offer from Bukhara for Bautista Fernández 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.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
1 academy players handed senior numbers at Temperley
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Luciano Nieto 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Miguel Ángel Vázquez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Luciano Nieto 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 it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolás Demartini wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Luciano Nieto 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 phone has started ringing about Bautista Fernández again, and this time the name on the line is Bukhara. Temperley are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nobody at Temperley 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Temperley have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal that would have taken Jerónimo Pourtau to Rosario Central has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Temperley with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Nicolás Demartini 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 Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luciano Nieto 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 Temperley 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bhayangkara Presisi had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The deal that would have taken Nicolás Molina to Cortulua has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Temperley with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Nicolás Demartini and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
19 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Luciano Nieto 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 settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Defensores had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luciano Nieto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Temperley, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Temperley have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Temperley have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Leandro Lucero was one of the reasons people came, and $1.8M does not replace that by itself.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alejandro Melo wants continental football; whether Temperley can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Fernando Brandán and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Temperley, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Temperley have lost him in all but the paperwork.
47 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Esparza 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Temperley know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Temperley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Leandro Lucero has come up in conversations Temperley were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Gabriel Hauche and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Temperley has been clear about where Lucas Richarte stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
6 goals in 13 games at Ravan — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Temperley updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Facundo Krüger is on it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Temperley that is a harder question to answer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leandro Lucero signs something — a contract at Temperley or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Esparza is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Temperley game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ararat-Armenia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Temperley 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Temperley have no good answer.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Franco Díaz
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Temperley lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Temperley they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gabriel Hauche and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Temperley know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Temperley have no good answer.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Franco Díaz 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Temperley, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Julián Carrasco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Oswaldo Pacheco'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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Temperley have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gabriel Hauche was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Temperley will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Esparza 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 used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz 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 Temperley 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 Temperley, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Temperley have no good answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Temperley they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Fernando Brandán 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 Oct 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fernando Brandán trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
16 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Oswaldo Pacheco'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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lorenzo Monti signs something — a contract at Temperley or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Valentín Aguiñagalde has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Gabriel Hauche was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Temperley will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Facundo Krüger is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Temperley. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The terracesThe Franco Díaz rumours reach the terraces
“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 Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fernando Brandán and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A 1‑0 win over San Martín SJ, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“I did not go to Ararat-Armenia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Temperley and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Felipe Lombardi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gabriel Hauche provided it, and the 8.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gerónimo Tomasetti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fernando Brandán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Ayunta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Felipe Lombardi could afford to be generous.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Temperley will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ismaily waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Temperley is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Gabriel Hauche and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
16 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“I watch every Temperley game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lokomotiv runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Felipe Lombardi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Neftekhimik waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Temperley is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from PSM for Leandro Lucero was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Lucas Richarte reports back to Temperley with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Fernando Brandán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Temperley training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Díaz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Temperley will try not to make too much of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Temperley will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Temperley people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Bukovyna for Lautaro Torres 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.
The name of Leandro Lucero has come up in conversations Temperley were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Gerónimo Tomasetti 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.
Fernando Brandán and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolás Molina. 2‑1 against Mitre, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Almirante Brown the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Temperley will enjoy reviewing.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gerónimo Tomasetti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Temperley the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Temperley will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Marcos Echeverría had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Franco Díaz 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 Temperley this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑0 win over Nueva Chicago, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Temperley will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Temperley, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Valentín Aguiñagalde did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Add another name to the list: Pergolettese have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Leandro Lucero. The answer from Temperley has not changed — yet.
Fernando Brandán and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A 2‑0 win over Chacarita Juniors, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mateo Rojas has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
SquadLorenzo Monti falls out with a teammate over standards
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 9.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Temperley can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from El Masry for Marcos Echeverría 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 is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Temperley can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsAlejandro Melo was on a different afternoon to everybody else