Marked for Matteo Malafronte
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 May 2028
A fracture rules Francesco Forte out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ascoli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ascoli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Ascoli
Federico Gattoni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Ascoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoul Guiebré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 May 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Ascoli know it.
The dugout15 May 2028
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
93 days out for Francesco Forte after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ascoli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout8 May 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market8 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Nicoletti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
Tempers go at Ascoli
Simone D'Uffizi 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francesco Galuppini and Ascoli agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Abdoul Guiebré 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 dugout8 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Simone D'Uffizi
“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 dugout8 May 2028
Augusto Bando 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.
The dugout8 May 2028
Simone Corazza has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ascoli 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.