Marked for Simone Cortese
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 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 The request is on a desk at Ospitaletto, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Samuele Sina: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ospitaletto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Ospitaletto asked and AS Roma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Francesco Galuppini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Ospitaletto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Gualandris is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Gobbi, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Napoli 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sergio Hernández and Ospitaletto agree another 3 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom31 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Picerno boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market31 May 2027
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Picerno
Destiny Efosa Egharevba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Daniele Franco
“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 dugout31 May 2027
Léo Abreu 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 Picerno, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout31 May 2027
Richard Marcone has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Picerno 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Jan 2027
Ospitaletto throw away a 3-goal lead
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Renate the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Ospitaletto will enjoy reviewing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.90, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
No sign of nerves from Eduard Ihnatov at 20 — 8.45
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Eduard Ihnatov did not need any: 8.45, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Francesco Galuppini 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
Marco Bertoli 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Quilmes have kept their man, and Ospitaletto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.