Marked for Leonards Čevers
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Salernitana may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 May 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Salernitana will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad3 May 2027
Juan Ignacio Molina 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 dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhamed Varela Djamanca, and the manager let it.
Squad3 May 2027
Simone Pieraccini 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.
Squad3 May 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Juan Ignacio Molina is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout3 May 2027
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.
Market3 May 2027
Luca Villa linked with a move away
The name of Luca Villa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Salernitana say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
24 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
35 appearances away from home and 24 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Match24 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Salernitana's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Salernitana has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismail Achik 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
10 combined actions and 7.55. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Facundo Lescano was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. 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.
Match20 Apr 2027
Late, late show earns Salernitana a point
Minute 86, against Cosenza, 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Mar 2027
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Eivind Helland 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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismail Achik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“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 Salernitana, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franco Ferrari, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Eugenio D'Ursi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eugenio D'Ursi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Catania in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market29 Mar 2027
The name of Kees de Boer keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Salernitana say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Spartaks lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartaks may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleksandrs Cauna and Spartaks agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduards Vanins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Spartaks
Rodolphe Ekou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitalijs Rugins, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Salernitana may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Salernitana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Pieraccini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I watch every Salernitana game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Spartaks runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
No place for Marco Capuano on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Salernitana pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“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
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Pavels Savalnieks
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartaks lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Jan 2027
Spartaks say no — this time
The offer from Metta/LU for Alvis Ciganovs 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The paperwork begins on Ionuţ Gurău
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Spartaks have done the hard part with Bylis, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Door shut on Arthur
Spartaks asked and Beroe said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gatis Stolcers was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartaks this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
9 new faces, and Spartaks 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Volga have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Pavels Savalnieks damages knee ligaments — 132 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Spartaks say no — this time
The offer from Skonto for Tomas Sernas 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Spartaks
Roberts Zjuzins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Spartaks asked and Egnatia Rrogozhinë said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Chinaza Joseph and Spartaks agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Aleksandrs Dubra, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A loan move for Leonards Čevers is in the works
Spartaks have made the call to Salernitana. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market18 Jan 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.