Marked for Fabio Giambertone
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Sep 2030
Rafael Andrade has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lecco they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market9 Sep 2030
The Torino deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Lautaro Aranda reports back to Lecco with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Transfer targets9 Sep 2030
Lecco offered $60.0K; Bari 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.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Salvatore Squillacioti has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Lecco have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets9 Sep 2030
Lecco asked and Lazio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Tempers go at Lecco
Lautaro Aranda 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.
Squad9 Sep 2030
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Juárez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Sep 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lecco, another week without a signature from Thiago Verardi.
The dugout9 Sep 2030
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
Triumph
Market2 Sep 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Lecco have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match31 Aug 2030
No mercy from Lecco
Renate will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Lecco were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market2 Sep 2030
Anas Alaoui has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lecco they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Two goals and a mark of 8.24 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match31 Aug 2030
Lecco make home a hard place to visit
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
“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.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Lecco close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 12 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets2 Sep 2030
Lecco have gone to Bari with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Match31 Aug 2030
Whatever happens, Lecco do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Aug 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Lecco have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market26 Aug 2030
Sean Parker 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 Lecco can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom26 Aug 2030
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Market26 Aug 2030
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Guidonia Montecelio moved on, Fabio Giambertone reports back to Lecco, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad26 Aug 2030
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Lecco can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets26 Aug 2030
Latina wanted more than $230.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets26 Aug 2030
Lecco asked and Venezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom26 Aug 2030
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Lecco
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Words exchanged at Lecco
Agustín Juárez 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2030
Lecco are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 61 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market12 Aug 2030
Lecco say no — this time
The offer from Atalanta for Guillaume Furrer 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.
Market12 Aug 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lecco they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom12 Aug 2030
Enrico Nova has agreed to leave Lecco for nothing
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.
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
$230.0K on the table at Latina. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
$420.0K was the most the club would pay and Frosinone were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Sean Parker in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
Lecco asked and Genoa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Juárez 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Aug 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Lecco is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market5 Aug 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lecco can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Aug 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Lecco people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market5 Aug 2030
Lecco say no — this time
The offer from Lecce for Lautaro Aranda 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 targets5 Aug 2030
Lecco have gone to Frosinone with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Anas Alaoui in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
Reggiana wanted more than $200.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad5 Aug 2030
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillaume Furrer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
Lecco asked and Parma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Jul 2030
Valerio Fumagalli damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Market22 Jul 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Monopoli waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Lecco is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market22 Jul 2030
“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.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
Lecco offered $1.6M; Lazio 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.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Lecco have done the hard part with Pisa, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
An offer of $200.0K for Luca Moro
Lecco have gone to Reggiana with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad22 Jul 2030
“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; Lecco are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
Lecco asked and Lazio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Tempers go at Lecco
Agustín Juárez 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 May 2030
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lecco will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match20 May 2030
Lecco are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 61 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
The dugout20 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lecco may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market20 May 2030
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad20 May 2030
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Lecco can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Pignarosa 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match22 Sep 2029
The run at home goes on for Lecco
18 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match19 Sep 2029
Lecco march on in the cup
Sambenedettese are out and Lecco go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match22 Sep 2029
No mercy from Lecco
Ospitaletto will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Lecco were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad24 Sep 2029
The match ball belongs to Guillaume Furrer, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
No sign of nerves from David Laudano at 21 — 7.91
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Laudano did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lecco have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.97, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Lecco
Guillaume Furrer 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Aug 2029
A falling-out at Lecco
Thiago Verardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2029
Cremonese wanted more than $160.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets20 Aug 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Juárez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2029
Bologna 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 dugout20 Aug 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Guillaume Furrer is on it.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
David Laudano is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout20 Aug 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Lecco will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Jul 2029
Lecco up to position 2
58 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Davide Tomba breaks a bone — 16 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 Jul 2029
David Laudano 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 Lecco can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cittadella keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
An offer of $310.0K for Eldin Lolić
Lecco have gone to Frosinone with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Lecco
Thiago Verardi 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.
Transfer targets16 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 dugout16 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Agustín Juárez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Jul 2029
Davide Tomba breaks a bone — 23 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 Jul 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.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Lecco and Cremonese have settled on $150.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market9 Jul 2029
The bid was some way short and Lecco did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Lecco asked and Dolomiti Bellunesi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Lecco
Davide Grassini 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Lecco can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Agustín Juárez 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.
Market9 Jul 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 2029
Enea Florio 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 Südtirol can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
Enea Florio: 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.” Südtirol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
The clubs have shaken hands with Venezia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market9 Jul 2029
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Südtirol heard it as anything else.
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.
Market9 Jul 2029
Lecco pay $180.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad9 Jul 2029
A row about effort at Südtirol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karim Zedadka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Jul 2029
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Adriano Rizzo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Federico Davi
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Jul 2029
30 days out for Davide Tomba after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lecco will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market2 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lecco can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
Lecco and Carrarese have settled on $51.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market2 Jul 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lecco they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market2 Jul 2029
Lecco say no — this time
The offer from Karvan for Christian Raggioli 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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Südtirol have kept their man, and Lecco go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
4 new boys at the Lecco academy
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
The dugout2 Jul 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
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
It is arithmetic now, and the arithmetic is done. A summer of hard questions starts early at Südtirol, and next season's fixture list reads very differently.
Market2 Jul 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Südtirol people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market2 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Südtirol can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
Pressure builds in the Südtirol boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
$61.0K settles it between the clubs for Gabriel Fajt
Reggiana have accepted the money. What Südtirol do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout2 Jul 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Südtirol may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market2 Jul 2029
Südtirol say no — this time
The offer from Lecco for Fabio Giambertone 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.
Market2 Jul 2029
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
The deal with Inter is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jun 2029
The unthinkable, invoiced: Simone Tronchin sold
Lazio arrived with $7.2M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The terraces18 Jun 2029
Simone Tronchin has gone, the accounts have $7.2M 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.
Market18 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Südtirol can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
$16.0K on the table at Foggia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Cosenza wanted more than $170.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Market18 Jun 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Südtirol will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Ábel Győri gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ábel Győri has just signed for Südtirol, and for once the answer mattered.
Market18 Jun 2029
Pisa pay $280.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Südtirol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Zedadka 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jun 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.
Match11 Jun 2029
Full time on the season at Südtirol
Position 19 on 27 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Market11 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market11 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cittadella waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Südtirol is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
$340.0K settles it between the clubs for Alessio Marcaccini
AS Roma have accepted the money. What Südtirol do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
“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.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Everything agreed with Novara, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Südtirol have gone to Cosenza with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Market11 Jun 2029
Lazio are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Südtirol will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Jun 2029
Südtirol sink to position 19
26 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match2 Jun 2029
Chastening afternoon for Südtirol
A 1‑4 beating by Empoli was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market4 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market4 Jun 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 Südtirol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Südtirol
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Simone Tronchin pops up at the right end — 7.37
7.37, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Market4 Jun 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Südtirol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Jun 2029
A row about effort at Südtirol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karim Zedadka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Andrea Lantignotti has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Südtirol have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 May 2029
No end in sight to Südtirol's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Südtirol has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 May 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 May 2029
Südtirol are in real trouble now
Position 19, 23 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad7 May 2029
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market7 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Südtirol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 May 2029
Karim Zedadka 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 terraces7 May 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Simon Harrasser has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad7 May 2029
Giorgio Colleoni 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.
Boardroom7 May 2029
Wages eat 86% of everything Südtirol earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Apr 2029
The wait goes on for Südtirol
15 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match9 Apr 2029
Südtirol are in real trouble now
Position 18, 21 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad9 Apr 2029
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.
Market9 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Südtirol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Domen Črnigoj did the work nobody counts — 7.03
15 combined actions and 7.03. 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Südtirol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Giorgini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Giorgini, and the manager let it.
Match7 Apr 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Everything rides on Renate
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Squad
A falling-out at Südtirol
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Andrea Giorgini 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market2 Apr 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Matías Rodríguez has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Südtirol.
Squad2 Apr 2029
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Raphael Kofler 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 Südtirol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market2 Apr 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nodirbek Ahmadjonov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Südtirol's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Südtirol has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Alessio Cragno out for 69 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Südtirol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Südtirol may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Andrea Giorgini 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Marked 7.36. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Raffaele Castelli chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Federico Davi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Südtirol 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
Crisis
Match10 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Südtirol's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Südtirol has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match12 Mar 2029
Every point is an argument now for Südtirol
Position 18 and 20 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market12 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Südtirol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Südtirol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Giorgini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Mar 2029
Parma left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Südtirol
Stefano Baraldi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Raffaele Castelli to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2029
A fracture rules Alessio Cragno out for 90 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Südtirol will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match24 Feb 2029
The wait goes on for Südtirol
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Südtirol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrea Giorgini 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at Südtirol
Domen Črnigoj 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.
Match24 Feb 2029
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Enea Florio
“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 dugout26 Feb 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Raffaele Castelli was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Südtirol dressing room was either.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
Domen Črnigoj has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Südtirol 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
Crisis
Squad12 Feb 2029
Alessio Cragno breaks a bone — 104 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match10 Feb 2029
Chastening afternoon for Südtirol
A 0‑3 beating by Pisa was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match10 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Südtirol's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Südtirol has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market12 Feb 2029
Südtirol say no — this time
The offer from Giana Erminio for Enea Florio 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.
Market12 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Südtirol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Napoli is saying, and nobody at Südtirol is enjoying the guessing.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Südtirol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Zedadka 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 targets12 Feb 2029
Südtirol asked and Torino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Südtirol's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Südtirol has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The clubs have shaken hands with Potenza; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Südtirol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Südtirol until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market5 Feb 2029
Giugliano come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Südtirol did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Everything agreed with Napoli, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrea Giorgini and Südtirol agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market5 Feb 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Südtirol have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Südtirol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrea Giorgini 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Südtirol people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match20 Jan 2029
5 matches without a win for Südtirol
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Südtirol are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
The offer went to Latina this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Latina wanted more than $25.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Südtirol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Zedadka 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 targets22 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spezia have kept their man, and Südtirol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match20 Jan 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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 Südtirol know it.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Domen Črnigoj
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Jan 2029
Südtirol are in real trouble now
Position 18, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market15 Jan 2029
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Fabio Giambertone had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Stefano Baraldi arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Stefano Baraldi has, at Südtirol, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Südtirol have gone to Genoa with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Match13 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Südtirol's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Südtirol has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
$24.0K was the most the club would pay and Potenza were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Südtirol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Giorgini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match13 Jan 2029
Raphael Odogwu scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Empoli, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Transfer targets15 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Jan 2029
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market8 Jan 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.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
$24.0K on the table at Potenza. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Südtirol
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Giorgini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Jan 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Südtirol
Simon Harrasser 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
Enea Florio named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Enea Florio is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market8 Jan 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Südtirol will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
Enea Florio gets it from the manager
“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.