Marked for Férney Angulo
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom18 Mar 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Inter
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Inter is running low.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Tempers go at Inter
Emin Nadirov 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.
Market18 Mar 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Inter know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom11 Mar 2030
105% of the income goes out in wages at Inter
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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Férney Angulo asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market11 Mar 2030
The name of Eddy Mammadov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Inter say nothing, which says plenty.
Market11 Mar 2030
The clock does Sergiy Vakulenko’s negotiating for him
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Inter could ask drops and the wages Sergiy Vakulenko can ask rise.
Boardroom11 Mar 2030
The Inter production line keeps running
17 graduates out of an academy now rated 3 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Oct 2029
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market15 Oct 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Inter, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Oct 2029
Sumgayit left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom15 Oct 2029
Inter counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Inter now.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
Marked 8.58 — 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“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 ratings15 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Sep 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom17 Sep 2029
Inter counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Inter now.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.83, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Urban Horvat, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Sep 2029
The medical room confirms 75 days on the sidelines for Javid Sheydaev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
One of those days for Baris Omur
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Inter needed to.
Match15 Sep 2029
Inter share the spoils with Kapaz
A 1‑1 draw with Kapaz leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 May 2029
Tempers go at Inter
Urban Horvat 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.
Squad14 May 2029
38 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market14 May 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sebastian Mrowca signs something — a contract at Inter or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad14 May 2029
A wage question at Inter
Baris Omur 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Férney Angulo knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Inter, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 May 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Inter can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Inter
Mateo Çipi 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.
Market22 Jan 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Inter will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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.