Noham Hamdaoua

Striker - Pianese
14 Nov 2030
Thursday
Process

Marked for Noham Hamdaoua

224 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

11 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Andrea Corbari is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monopoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Player ratings

Freddi Greco shuts the door

Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Cristian Battocchio 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.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Lorenzo Bordo

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Emanuele Scipioni in the eights

A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Monopoli get the job done against Trapani

A 1‑0 win over Trapani, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Simone Calvano 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.

Player ratings

Aiham Dahche shuts the door

Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Loan watch

Noham Hamdaoua counts the days

“I watch every Monopoli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pianese runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

Back issues
224 Edition

The Pianese Gazette

11 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Gabriele Negri puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Pianese, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Luca Rossini is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pianese is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Matteo Colombo

12 goals and a season average of 7.57 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Tempers go at Pianese

Francesco Chesti 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.

Boardroom

Pianese counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Pianese now.

Match

Pianese find a way past Campobasso

Campobasso made Pianese work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Matteo Colombo in the eights

A performance of 8.81 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Lorenzo Vigiani in the eights

A performance of 8.67 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Noham Hamdaoua

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

223 Edition

The Pianese Gazette

4 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Thomas Galli

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

The cup run ends for Pianese

0‑4 against AC Milan, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Market

Lorenzo Vigiani puts it in writing

“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 Pianese, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Matteo Colombo

11 goals and a season average of 7.51 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Tempers go at Pianese

Francesco Proietto 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.

Match

Pianese get the job done against Carpi

A 3‑2 win over Carpi, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Francesco Chesti

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Matteo Colombo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.96, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Andrea Mussini

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

220 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

14 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Andrea Corbari has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monopoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Cristian Battocchio 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 Monopoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Monopoli against Sorrento

1‑2 to Sorrento, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Aiham Dahche

Marked 8.53 — 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.

Player ratings

Denzel Seedorf runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Loan watch

Noham Hamdaoua has seen enough of Pianese

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Monopoli, and 6 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Riccardo Calcagni 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.

Player ratings

Philip Yeboah keeps on missing

Shots: 12, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Market

The Emanuele Scipioni question follows Monopoli around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Emanuele Scipioni’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

217 Edition

The Pianese Gazette

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Lorenzo Masetti puts it in writing

“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 Pianese, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Thomas Galli keeps Pianese in it on his own

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Pianese

Francesco Chesti 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.

Match

Pianese get the job done against Bra

A 2‑1 win over Bra, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matteo Colombo

Marked 8.91 — 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Afonso Sambú

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Lorenzo Vigiani

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Pianese buy the years ahead of Giorgi Kakabadze

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.

Player ratings

Darius Cristian Groza keeps on missing

Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

216 Edition

The Pianese Gazette

16 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Noham Hamdaoua says Pianese went back on their word

“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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Thomas Galli

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Andrea Gotti asks to leave Pianese

“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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Luca Rossini

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luca Rossini will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pianese the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Pianese

Francesco Proietto 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Cristiano Furno

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Francesco Chesti

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Matteo Colombo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

One of those days for Lorenzo Vigiani

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

215 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

9 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Lorenzo Bordo is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Monopoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Cristian Battocchio signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cristian Battocchio commits to Monopoli for another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Lorenzo Andrenacci 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Alberto Solís

Marked 9.01 — 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Philip Yeboah

“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.

Squad

Kirill Saraev out for 14 days

The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Kirill Saraev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Boardroom

Wages eat 102% of everything Monopoli 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.

Loan watch

Noham Hamdaoua counts the days

“I watch every Monopoli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pianese runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

Monopoli and Salernitana take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

214 Edition

The Pianese Gazette

2 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

11 matches without a win for Pianese

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Pianese are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Joey Houweling

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Gabriele Negri 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 Pianese can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Pianese

Francesco Proietto 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Pianese against Perugia

1‑3 to Perugia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

No hiding place for Noham Hamdaoua

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noham Hamdaoua, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

One of those days for Matteo Colombo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Market

Pianese buy the years ahead of Renato Marino

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.

Squad

Matteo Colombo is off the mark for Pianese

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

211 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

12 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Lorenzo Bordo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monopoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Cristian Battocchio 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Thomas Clementi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Clementi, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 106% of everything Monopoli 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.

Loan watch

Noham Hamdaoua has seen enough of Pianese

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Monopoli, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Aiham Dahche 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 Aiham Dahche trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

210 Edition

The Pianese Gazette

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Bruno Riva has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Pianese can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Market

Lorenzo Masetti asks to leave Pianese

“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.

Squad

Francesco Proietto signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francesco Proietto and Pianese agree another 4 years.

Squad

Francesco Chesti 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 Pianese this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Jakob Schragl attracts admirers

The name of Jakob Schragl has come up in conversations Pianese were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

Francesco Chesti linked with a move away

The name of Francesco Chesti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Pianese say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

207 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

15 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Only the photograph left for Lorenzo Bordo

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lorenzo Bordo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Monopoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Nicolò Vaccarezza keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Monopoli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Freddi Greco 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.

Boardroom

115% of the income goes out in wages at Monopoli

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Loan watch

Noham Hamdaoua counts the days

“I watch every Monopoli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pianese runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Lorenzo Andrenacci 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 Lorenzo Andrenacci trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

203 Edition

The Pianese Gazette

17 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Lorenzo Masetti 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 Pianese can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Pianese

Francesco Chesti 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.

Boardroom

95% of the income goes out in wages at Pianese

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Squad

Allef 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.

Squad

This league is too small for Noham Hamdaoua

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Pianese will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Market

Lorenzo Masetti linked with a move away

The name of Lorenzo Masetti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Pianese say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

201 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Monopoli put Interim Coach on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Market

Riccardo Calcagni asks to leave Monopoli

“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.

Squad

Alberto Solís out for 14 days

The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Alberto Solís, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Freddi Greco 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.

Market

Eyes on Noham Hamdaoua again

The phone has started ringing about Noham Hamdaoua again, and this time the name on the line is Pontedera. Monopoli are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Giuseppe Positano named player of the month

The award goes to Giuseppe Positano, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.

In brief

199 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Monopoli

5 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.

Market

Matías Melo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Monopoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Emanuele Scipioni

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Cristian Battocchio 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.

Match

Monopoli come up short against Catania

Catania left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

No hiding place for Lorenzo Andrenacci

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lorenzo Andrenacci, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 100% of everything Monopoli 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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Samuele Giallombardo

5 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Antony Angileri gives it away

There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Monopoli lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.

In brief

185 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

11 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Filippo Neri keeps Monopoli in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Freddi Greco

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Cristian Battocchio 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 Monopoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Monopoli see off Picerno

Three points for Monopoli, 1‑0 the final word against Picerno in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Emanuele Scipioni

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

One of those days for Antonio De Palo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Davide Bove shuts the door

Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

No hiding place for Simone Calvano

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simone Calvano, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Thomas Clementi counts the days

“I watch every Monopoli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Potenza runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

184 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

4 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Monopoli spell it out for Interim Coach

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.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Monopoli boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Market

Filippo Neri asks to leave Monopoli

“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.

Squad

Cristian Battocchio signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cristian Battocchio and Monopoli agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Freddi Greco 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.

Player ratings

Emanuele Scipioni runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Eyes on Noham Hamdaoua again

The phone has started ringing about Noham Hamdaoua again, and this time the name on the line is Sambenedettese. Monopoli are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Alberto Solís

7 goals and a season average of 7.41 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Monopoli come up short against Altamura

Altamura left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

182 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

8 matches without a win for Monopoli

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Monopoli are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Cristian Battocchio 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Monopoli against Salernitana

2‑3 to Salernitana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Davide Bove

Marked 8.21 — 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Edoardo Antoni

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edoardo Antoni, and the manager let it.

Squad

Samuele Giallombardo is carrying Monopoli

5 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Market

The Noham Hamdaoua conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Livorno will make the call about Noham Hamdaoua this week. Monopoli have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Player ratings

The one thing Emanuele Scipioni could not do

Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Market

The Freddi Greco talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Monopoli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

180 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Filippo Neri keeps Monopoli in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Filippo Neri asks to leave Monopoli

“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.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Monopoli

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Monopoli is running low.

Match

No end in sight to Monopoli's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Monopoli has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at Monopoli

Freddi Greco 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Alberto Solís

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.97, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Alberto Solís is carrying Monopoli

7 goals and a season average of 7.43. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

No hiding place for Lorenzo Andrenacci

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lorenzo Andrenacci, and the manager let it.

Market

Triestina join the queue for Noham Hamdaoua

Add another name to the list: Triestina have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Noham Hamdaoua. The answer from Monopoli has not changed — yet.

In brief

129 Edition

The Monopoli Gazette

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Lorenzo Andrenacci

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Noham Hamdaoua says Monopoli went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Aurélio Buta 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 Monopoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Emanuele Scipioni

Marked 8.84 — 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Philip Yeboah

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Philip Yeboah, and the manager let it.

Match

Emanuele Scipioni rescues a point for Monopoli

It needed Emanuele Scipioni to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Salernitana, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Market

The Aurélio Buta question follows Monopoli around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Aurélio Buta’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Player ratings

Alberto Solís runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 8. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Gioele Castiglione leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Gioele Castiglione leaves Monopoli the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief