Marked for Leonardo Santer
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Feb 2031
A hiding for Trento
Beaten 0‑3 by Union Brescia, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match15 Feb 2031
6 matches without a win for Trento
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Trento are no longer polite ones.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match15 Feb 2031
Trento are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market17 Feb 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Loan watch17 Feb 2031
24 appearances at Altamura and the goals keep coming. Trento are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad17 Feb 2031
A falling-out at Trento
Sergio Barlocco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Avila was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Feb 2031
“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.
Match8 Feb 2031
No end in sight to Trento's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Trento has to find a result from somewhere.
Match8 Feb 2031
No clean sheets in sight for Trento
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Marvin Avila 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 Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
Trento asked and Juve Stabia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match8 Feb 2031
Mattia Maffei scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Lumezzane, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Trento will try again when the window opens; Ternana may not be selling by then.
Market10 Feb 2031
Marco Fossati is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Trento has been clear about where Marco Fossati stands, which is more than many ever get.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Feb 2031
Chastening afternoon for Trento
A 2‑5 beating by Vicenza was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market3 Feb 2031
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Trento 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.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
Everything agreed with Ternana, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market3 Feb 2031
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match1 Feb 2031
4 matches without a win for Trento
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Trento are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 Feb 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francesco Benassai and Trento agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Feb 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Feb 2031
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Trento and Vicenza in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Jan 2031
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
Trento and Genoa have settled on $350.0K. 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.
The dugout27 Jan 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
The deal with Trapani 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.
Loan watch27 Jan 2031
21 appearances at Altamura and the goals keep coming. Trento are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad27 Jan 2031
“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; Trento are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad27 Jan 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
Trento asked and Cagliari said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
$48.0K was the most the club would pay and Fiorentina 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Jan 2031
There were 13 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.
Squad13 Jan 2031
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trento will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings13 Jan 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.98, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market13 Jan 2031
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
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.
Loan watch13 Jan 2031
19 appearances away from home and 16 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marvin Avila 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 dugout13 Jan 2031
The manager makes an example of Marvin Avila
“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.
Match11 Jan 2031
Trento rescue it on 89 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Triestina had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Dec 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Trento may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Dec 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonardo Santer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Words exchanged at Trento
Marvin Avila 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.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad30 Dec 2030
Lorenzo Gori 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.
Squad30 Dec 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mark Pulisic commits to Trento for another 4 years.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
Mattia Maffei gets picked when it counts
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 Mattia Maffei is on it.
The dugout30 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ayman El Haouari, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Dec 2030
9 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.
Market16 Dec 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.
Match14 Dec 2030
The wait goes on for Trento
4 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.
Player ratings16 Dec 2030
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad16 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Trento
Mattia Maffei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marvin Avila 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.
Loan watch16 Dec 2030
15 appearances at Altamura and the goals keep coming. Trento are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Match14 Dec 2030
0‑1 to Dolomiti Bellunesi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad16 Dec 2030
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Darshan Lemard, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Nov 2030
Chastening afternoon for Trento
A 0‑4 beating by Novara was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market2 Dec 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.
The dugout2 Dec 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.
Market2 Dec 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lorenzo Gori and Trento agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Dec 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad2 Dec 2030
Marvin Avila 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.
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Nov 2030
Only the photograph left for Lorenzo Gori
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lorenzo Gori will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market11 Nov 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.
Squad11 Nov 2030
500 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marvin Avila 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 dugout11 Nov 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marco Fossati, and the manager let it.
Match9 Nov 2030
Three points for Trento, 1‑0 the final word against Pro Vercelli in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad11 Nov 2030
50 goals in the shirt for Lorenzo Gori
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Squad11 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Michele Grasso on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Nov 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 18 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match30 Oct 2030
Trento out of the cup
Lazio ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market4 Nov 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
Tommaso Russo: 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.” Trento have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market4 Nov 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Words exchanged at Trento
Marvin Avila 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.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match2 Nov 2030
1‑3 to AlbinoLeffe, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match2 Nov 2030
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Michael Biritwum Foh had Trento level again within 4 minutes, and AlbinoLeffe never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Oct 2030
Only the photograph left for Lorenzo Gori
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lorenzo Gori will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market14 Oct 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Oct 2030
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Avila was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Oct 2030
Lorenzo Gori scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Arzignano, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
Bohdan Striuk gets picked when it counts
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 Bohdan Striuk is on it.
Loan watch14 Oct 2030
7 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Oct 2030
Chastening afternoon for Trento
A 0‑3 beating by Union Brescia was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market7 Oct 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.
Market7 Oct 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonardo Santer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Lorenzo Gori 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 dugout7 Oct 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad7 Oct 2030
Tempers go at Trento
Valery Ozerov 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 Oct 2030
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Sep 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market16 Sep 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market16 Sep 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
A defender's goal wins it for Trento — 7.81
1 for Pietro La Torre, marked 7.81, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad16 Sep 2030
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match14 Sep 2030
6 goals as Trento and Lecco go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Trento and Lecco, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Words exchanged at Trento
Marvin Avila 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.
Match14 Sep 2030
Trento come up short against Lecco
Lecco left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Transfer targets16 Sep 2030
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
Upbeat
Match7 Sep 2030
A hiding for Trento
Beaten 1‑4 by Pro Patria, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The dugout9 Sep 2030
Marvin Avila: 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.” Trento have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market9 Sep 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Pietro La Torre is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market9 Sep 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Riccardo Fiamozzi commits to Trento for another 2 years.
Match7 Sep 2030
The run is over for Trento
8 matches without defeat, and then Pro Patria. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad9 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets9 Sep 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter have kept their man, and Trento go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Aug 2030
Livorno come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Trento did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market19 Aug 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets19 Aug 2030
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Juventus keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad19 Aug 2030
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Transfer targets19 Aug 2030
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.
Squad19 Aug 2030
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marvin Avila was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Aug 2030
“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 Trento know it.
Squad19 Aug 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mark Pulisic and Trento agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
Mattia Maffei gets picked when it counts
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 Mattia Maffei is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Aug 2030
Pietro La Torre is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market12 Aug 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Aug 2030
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Marvin Avila
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Trento will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Tempers go at Trento
Sergio Barlocco 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.
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
Trento offered $190.0K; Hellas Verona 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 targets12 Aug 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecco have kept their man, and Trento go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Aug 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tommaso Russo and Trento agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
A loan enquiry to AC Milan: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Aug 2030
Marvin Avila 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 Trento, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Jul 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market29 Jul 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
The paperwork begins on Luca Vido
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Trento have done the hard part with Union Brescia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ravenna have kept their man, and Trento go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad29 Jul 2030
A falling-out at Trento
Harry Hedges and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bohdan Striuk 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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Trento are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
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 Sergio Barlocco is on it.
Market29 Jul 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lorenzo Gori’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market22 Jul 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 Trento can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sassuolo is saying, and nobody at Trento is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
The offer went to Hellas Verona 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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Tempers go at Trento
Mattia Maffei 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.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Trento go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout22 Jul 2030
Mattia Maffei has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Trento 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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Toby Tielemans 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 dugout22 Jul 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giulio Bianco, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Jul 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Franco Casuriaga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
The clubs have shaken hands with Fiorentina; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market15 Jul 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Trento have done the hard part with Sassuolo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Sebastiano Canali is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Tempers go at Trento
Sergio Barlocco 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.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
Trento offered $99.0K; Pisa 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 targets15 Jul 2030
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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bohdan Striuk 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 dugout15 Jul 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets24 Jun 2030
$27.0K settles it between the clubs for Federico Greco
AlbinoLeffe have accepted the money. What Trento do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market24 Jun 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.
Squad24 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Jun 2030
$64.0K on the table at Pisa. 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 targets24 Jun 2030
Trento 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.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Vinko Kolaković 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 dugout24 Jun 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.
The dugout24 Jun 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edimilson Okafor, and the manager let it.
Market24 Jun 2030
The name of Sergio Barlocco keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Trento say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Jun 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.
Market17 Jun 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Trento have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout17 Jun 2030
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Market17 Jun 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Tempers go at Trento
Sergio Barlocco 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.
Transfer targets17 Jun 2030
Pisa wanted more than $36.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets17 Jun 2030
Trento asked and Udinese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Vinko Kolaković 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.
Market17 Jun 2030
Lorenzo Gori is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Trento has been clear about where Lorenzo Gori stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 May 2030
11 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.
Player ratings20 May 2030
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market20 May 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.
The dugout20 May 2030
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Market20 May 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match18 May 2030
Still nobody has beaten Trento
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad20 May 2030
Tempers go at Trento
Sergio Barlocco 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.
Squad20 May 2030
14 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Sergio Barlocco has given nobody the chance.
The terraces20 May 2030
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Vinko Kolaković 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 May 2030
3‑0, and Lorenzo Gori took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Trento tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings13 May 2030
Marked 8.64 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad13 May 2030
Juan Peñaloza is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.35 with 22 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout13 May 2030
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Market13 May 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout13 May 2030
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Trento have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match11 May 2030
Still nobody has beaten Trento
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad13 May 2030
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Peñaloza 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.
Squad13 May 2030
A falling-out at Trento
Mattia Maffei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Apr 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 Trento can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout22 Apr 2030
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Market22 Apr 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonardo Santer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Juan Peñaloza 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Trento can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad22 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Apr 2030
“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 dugout22 Apr 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.
Market22 Apr 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Mar 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
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The dugout25 Mar 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Trento may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market25 Mar 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Juan Peñaloza 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match23 Mar 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
A promise honoured at Trento
Something was said to Lorenzo Gori and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
7.67, 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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
A falling-out at Trento
Sergio Barlocco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match9 Mar 2030
2‑3 to Giana Erminio, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad11 Mar 2030
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Peñaloza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad11 Mar 2030
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
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 Sergio Barlocco is on it.
Looking ahead11 Mar 2030
A test against the best for Trento
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against AlbinoLeffe.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Feb 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market25 Feb 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Feb 2030
A falling-out at Trento
Sheriff Kassama and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match23 Feb 2030
0‑1 to Arzignano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Simone Rosciglioni 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
10 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Sergio Barlocco has given nobody the chance.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Jan 2030
A 2-goal lead gone for Trento
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Lecco kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Trento will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Market28 Jan 2030
“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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market28 Jan 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
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Match26 Jan 2030
7 unbeaten for Trento
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Trento did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Words exchanged at Trento
Sergio Barlocco 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.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Juan Peñaloza
14 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Juan Peñaloza 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
Upbeat
Market31 Dec 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 Trento can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.12, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words exchanged at Trento
Sergio Barlocco 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Peñaloza 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.
Match29 Dec 2029
A 2‑0 win over Virtus Verona, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Dec 2029
“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; Trento are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout31 Dec 2029
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Dec 2029
35 days out for Tommaso Bianco after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trento will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout17 Dec 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words exchanged at Trento
Sheriff Kassama 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Juan Peñaloza 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.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
The pass was always on for Lorenzo Gori
Chances created: 12. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
A promise honoured at Trento
Something was said to Filippo Frison and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Match15 Dec 2029
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
The chances came and went for Juan Peñaloza
18 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Michele Grasso after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Dec 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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
No sign of nerves from Pietro La Torre at 21 — 8.03
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Pietro La Torre did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market3 Dec 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 Dec 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 Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Dec 2029
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sheriff Kassama was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 Dec 2029
A bad afternoon for Trento against Novara
1‑2 to Novara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces3 Dec 2029
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Market3 Dec 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Trento, another week without a signature from Sheriff Kassama.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Bohdan Striuk
-
Squad
Cristian Nasti slips down the pecking order
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2029
Trento out of the cup
Fiorentina ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market5 Nov 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
80 days out for Tommaso Bianco after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trento will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad5 Nov 2029
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.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Trento may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market5 Nov 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonardo Santer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words exchanged at Trento
Sergio Barlocco 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Peñaloza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Nov 2029
3 matches without a goal for Trento
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Oct 2029
3‑0, and Juan Peñaloza took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Trento tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Tommaso Bianco breaks a bone — 109 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Oct 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 Trento can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Oct 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 Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Juan Peñaloza 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.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.57 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Juan Peñaloza was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.30. 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.
Squad8 Oct 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 Trento know it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Sep 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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Benassai 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 targets10 Sep 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Trento go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Trento
Mattia Maffei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match8 Sep 2029
0‑2 to Pro Patria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergio Barlocco, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
The clock did what Südtirol would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad10 Sep 2029
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Aug 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trento they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Trento have done the hard part with Südtirol, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Juan Peñaloza falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets13 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
A falling-out at Trento
Mattia Maffei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
The manager makes an example of Filippo Frison
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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; Trento are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
Sheriff Kassama 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 dugout13 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 Simone Rosciglioni is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
The phone has started ringing about Pietro La Torre again, and this time the name on the line is Luton Town. Trento are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market16 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Bohdan Striuk is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad16 Jul 2029
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Juan Peñaloza falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Trento go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Jul 2029
A falling-out at Trento
Michele Tommasi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
A loan enquiry to Juventus: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Jun 2029
The unthinkable, invoiced: Angelo Talia sold
Atalanta arrived with $3.3M 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Franco Casuriaga
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trento lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces11 Jun 2029
Angelo Talia has gone, the accounts have $3.3M 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.
Market11 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 Trento, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonardo Santer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Trento training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicola Dalmonte 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.
Boardroom11 Jun 2029
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Matteo Vignoli has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Trento have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad11 Jun 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 Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to Benevento: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 May 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Franco Casuriaga
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trento lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 May 2029
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings14 May 2029
A brace, and Angelo Talia takes the afternoon — 8.20
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Angelo Talia provided it, and the 8.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match12 May 2029
Nobody wants to play Trento right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market14 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonardo Santer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trento the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 May 2029
Getting past Sergio Barlocco has become the hardest job in the division
16 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Squad14 May 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 Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Dalmonte was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 May 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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The team sheet said everything about Lorenzo Gori
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The dugout
When it matters, Riccardo Fiamozzi plays
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trento is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 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 Trento this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Trento
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Angelo Talia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Amer Mehić
“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 dugout16 Apr 2029
Riccardo Fiamozzi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Trento 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.
Market16 Apr 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Michael Biritwum Foh has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Trento.
Market16 Apr 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nicola Dalmonte’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market16 Apr 2029
The shop window has Angelo Talia in it
Trento have let the market know Angelo Talia can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The terraces16 Apr 2029
Supporters make their feelings known about Pietro La Torre
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Trento would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.