Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pineto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Luca Schirone 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.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pineto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2035
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgos Pontikos 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. Pineto know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Angelo Vapore will want back
“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 The request is on a desk at Pineto, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pineto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Luca Schirone 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.
Squad25 Dec 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Amoroso 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 Pineto 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Angelo Vapore will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Luca Schirone 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.
Squad27 Nov 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Amoroso 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 goal that put Gubbio ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Pineto equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pineto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Angelo Vapore will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Luca Schirone 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.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Amoroso 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.
16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Pineto can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pineto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Luca Schirone 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Pineto and Vis Pesaro in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Federico Mastropietro commits to Pineto for another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Amoroso 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 Pineto 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.
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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pineto 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Pineto told Giampaolo Bonifazi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pineto can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pineto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Luca Schirone 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.
Squad4 Sep 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Amoroso 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Pineto can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luca Schirone 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.
Squad7 Aug 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Amoroso 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pineto have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Angelo Vapore will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Luca Schirone 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 19 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Adrian Sović has just signed for Pineto, and for once the answer mattered.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Angelo Vapore will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Luca Schirone 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.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Amoroso 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 borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pineto, 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 Pineto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luca Schirone 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 May 2034
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Mastropietro 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 borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.58 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto 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 Pineto 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto 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 Pineto 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.
Bra held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Pineto answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Pineto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Angelo Vapore will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Angelo Vapore will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto 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 Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The terraces2 Jan 2034
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pineto can pretend not to have heard.
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. Pineto will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto 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 Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Dec 2033
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mateo Muñoz 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.
8.81. 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.
Player ratings26 Dec 2033
Luca Schirone was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.60. 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Federico Baggi signs something — a contract at Pineto or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Luca Schirone was at the centre of it, Gubbio were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Player ratings28 Nov 2033
A brace, and Luca Schirone takes the afternoon — 10.00
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Luca Schirone provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pineto 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 Pineto 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.