Marked for Oumar Conté
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Reggiana
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Reggiana is running low.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alfonso Bellucci has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market6 Dec 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Reggiana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Giuseppe Simone: 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.” Reggiana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match4 Dec 2027
4 matches without a win for Reggiana
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Reggiana are no longer polite ones.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Reggiana
Daniel Boloca 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Natan Girma 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oumar Conté and Reggiana agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
7.40, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Reggiana had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
10 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.
Match22 Sep 2027
Reggiana march on in the cup
Pergolettese are out and Reggiana go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market27 Sep 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Reggiana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Reggiana may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Oumar Conté, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.77
A mark of 7.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad27 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Reggiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Natan Girma 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Thomas Henry scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Bari, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Reggiana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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.
Match30 Jan 2027
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Tommaso Fumagalli decided nobody was going anywhere. Carrarese had no time left to answer.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Oumar Conté: 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.” Reggiana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Reggiana close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Reggiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
At 21, Mathis Lambourde is already the best thing here
An average of 7.03 in a first team he is several years too young for. Reggiana have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torino have kept their man, and Reggiana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mathis Lambourde 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.