Marked for Nicolás Muñoz
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Sep 2029
“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.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Window shuts: 29 in, 26 out at Casarano
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 29 arrived, 26 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Henri Moreau gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Henri Moreau has just signed for Casarano, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad3 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Casarano
Marco Ferilli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Still nobody in the Casarano dugout
14 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Vito Leonetti 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 targets3 Sep 2029
The clock did what Sambenedettese would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market3 Sep 2029
The name of Nicolás Muñoz has come up in conversations Casarano were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Aug 2029
A falling-out at Casarano
Flavio Di Dio and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Casarano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pietro Ciotti 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.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cesena have kept their man, and Casarano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giacomo Cavallini, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Casarano can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
AC Milan 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.
Market13 Aug 2029
The name of Marco Ferilli keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Casarano say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
Nicolás Muñoz has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Casarano 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 dugout13 Aug 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Antonio De Luca out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casarano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Jul 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 Casarano, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom9 Jul 2029
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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vito Leonetti and Casarano agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Casarano offered $43.0K; Vis Pesaro said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Pietro Ciotti 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 targets9 Jul 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout9 Jul 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Casarano people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match8 Jan 2029
Casarano sink to position 17
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market8 Jan 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 Casarano, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Everything agreed with AC Milan, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Vito Leonetti 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Casarano
Stefano Negro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolás Muñoz and Casarano agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Sep 2028
Karlo Lulić hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Sep 2028
The medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Cosimo Patierno, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raffaele Maiello, and the manager let it.
Match16 Sep 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Looking ahead18 Sep 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Flavio Di Dio’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Casarano needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market18 Sep 2028
The name of Federico Giraudo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Casarano say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Aug 2028
Stefano Altieri damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Market14 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market14 Aug 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Casarano they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The terraces14 Aug 2028
Niccolò Chiorra has gone, the accounts have $500.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Market14 Aug 2028
Bright Gyamfi hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Aug 2028
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Flavio Di Dio 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.
Market14 Aug 2028
Torino paid $500.0K and Casarano took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Karlo Lulić has improved at 32, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jul 2028
“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 Jul 2028
Joseph Ngadena is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Federico Giraudo has improved at 29, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Casarano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tommaso Cassandro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Andrea Santarcangelo 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
“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 dugout31 Jul 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vincenzo Millico trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market31 Jul 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Borna Knezović signs something — a contract at Casarano or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Nicolás Muñoz has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Casarano 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
Uneasy
Market17 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casarano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 Casarano, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Casarano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“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.
Market17 Jul 2028
Khazar come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Casarano did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casarano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Nicolás Muñoz is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad17 Jul 2028
At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jul 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casarano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Casarano have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.
Market3 Jul 2028
The bid was some way short and Casarano did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
Raffaele Maiello: 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.” Casarano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Tommaso Cassandro 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 dugout3 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Grandolfo, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Leandro Versienti 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.
Market3 Jul 2028
He is 20, and nobody at Casarano signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Giovanni Mirto 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.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Bright Gyamfi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Casarano will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
Vito Leonetti 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 Vito Leonetti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Casarano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihail Tsenov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market5 Jun 2028
Casarano have let the market know Francesco Grandolfo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market5 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Niccolò Chiorra’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.