Erick Ciobanu

Central Midfielder - Reggiana
18 Apr 2032
Sunday
Process

Marked for Erick Ciobanu

298 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

12 Apr 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ettore Broggian 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 The request is on a desk at Reggiana, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Reggiana

Natan Girma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Reggiana training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Suárez 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.

Match

Reggiana see off Carrarese

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

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Martín Suárez

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

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Leon Šipoš

7.92, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Reggiana had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

Reggiana keep their word to Leo Begolli

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

Interim Coach: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

Erick Ciobanu 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.

In brief

Back issues
292 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

1 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Leo Begolli asks to leave Reggiana

“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.

Match

8 matches without a win for Reggiana

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

Squad

Natan Girma 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 Reggiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Reggiana against Frosinone

0‑2 to Frosinone, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Reggiana training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Sampirisi 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.

Boardroom

126% of the income goes out in wages at Reggiana

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.

The dugout

Interim Coach answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The dugout

No hiding place for Erick Ciobanu

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

The dugout

Leo Begolli 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.

In brief

291 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

23 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Reggiana boardroom

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

Match

7 matches without a win for Reggiana

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Reggiana are no longer polite ones.

Market

Antonio Vaccà asks to leave Reggiana

“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

Tempers go at Reggiana

Natan Girma 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

Nobody could get near Natan Girma

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Mantova take the points off Reggiana

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No hiding place for Leo Begolli

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

Squad

A row about effort at Reggiana

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simone Bonetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

287 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

26 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Reggiana boardroom

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

Squad

Tempers go at Reggiana

Natan Girma 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

Reggiana refuse to lose to Cremonese

A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Natan Girma

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Reggiana share the spoils with Cremonese

A 1‑1 draw with Cremonese leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Lorenzo Crisetig

Nobody at Reggiana is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.

The dugout

Valerio Angelucci 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

A ban for Simone Bonetti

One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Reggiana lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.

In brief

286 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

19 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Matteo Enza

There were 6 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.

The dugout

Valerio Angelucci says Reggiana 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

Words exchanged at Reggiana

Natan Girma 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.

Match

Juve Stabia take the points off Reggiana

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Mario Sampirisi 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.

Match

Aarón Martínez answers Juve Stabia immediately

Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Aarón Martínez had Reggiana level again within 2 minutes, and Juve Stabia never got to play with a lead at all.

Squad

Erick Ciobanu reaches 100 appearances

100 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.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ettore Broggian

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

In brief

279 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

1 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Lorenzo Crisetig out for 46 days

46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Reggiana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Reggiana boardroom

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

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Matteo Enza

There were 6 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

Francesco Morabito is on his way

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

Squad

Tempers go at Reggiana

Natan Girma 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

A row about effort at Reggiana

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Bozzolan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Francesco Vallarelli in the eights

A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Martín Suárez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Reggiana had all but put away. Carrarese will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

In brief

278 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

24 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Lorenzo Crisetig

53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Reggiana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Reggiana tear Cesena apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑1 against Cesena, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Both of them Leon Šipoš's — 9.24

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.24, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

A brace, and Natan Girma takes the afternoon — 8.14

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Natan Girma provided it, and the 8.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Words exchanged at Reggiana

Lorenzo Crisetig 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.

Match

Natan Girma among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Natan Girma on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Reggiana and Cesena.

The dugout

Leo Begolli 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

A masterclass from Martín Suárez

Marked 8.26 — 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.

The dugout

Interim Coach: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 5‑1, already talking about the next one.

In brief

273 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

20 Oct 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Reggiana spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

The dugout

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Match

The wait goes on for Reggiana

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Reggiana

Natan Girma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Reggiana

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Crisetig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Reggiana come up short against Frosinone

Frosinone left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Matteo Enza 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.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

Erick Ciobanu 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 Erick Ciobanu is on it.

In brief

261 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

28 Jul 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Reggiana board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Frank Tsadjout rejects the move

Reggiana had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Cremonese, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

The step up is real for Valerio Angelucci

At 22 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Reggiana

Natan Girma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Reggiana rebuffed over Attila Horváth

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cesena have kept their man, and Reggiana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Andrea Bozzolan

“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

Late improvement for Emanuel Bassi

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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 101% of the Reggiana income

Every club 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 it has been tried.

Transfer targets

Reggiana try to borrow Gianluca Ventura

Juventus have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief

255 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

16 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Reggiana boardroom

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

Market

Not going: Daniel Golovatic stays at Reggiana

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Carrarese had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Transfer targets

$1.3M settles it between the clubs for Tomás Attis

Empoli have accepted the money. What Reggiana do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Ryan Gnonto rejects the move

Reggiana had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Catania, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Words exchanged at Reggiana

Natan Girma and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Transfer targets

Reggiana ask about Darius Cristian Groza

A loan enquiry to Bologna: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Boardroom

$1.2M lands at Reggiana thanks to Matteo Rover

A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Reggiana $1.2M. Matteo Rover left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.

Market

The Aarón Martínez talk will not go away

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

The dugout

Erick Ciobanu 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 Erick Ciobanu is on it.

In brief

248 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

28 Apr 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gianluca Sanna damages knee ligaments — 39 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Martín Suárez 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 Reggiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Reggiana

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Crisetig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Natan Girma

Marked 8.20 — 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

One of those days for Aarón Martínez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Late, late show earns Reggiana a point

Minute 86, against Südtirol, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Match

Reggiana share the spoils with Südtirol

A 2‑2 draw with Südtirol leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniel Golovatic

“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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Reggiana dressing room was either.

In brief

241 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

10 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Reggiana has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Match

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

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

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriele Desiderato

56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Reggiana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

38 days out for Gabriele Baraldi after a fracture

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.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Reggiana

Position 18 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

The dugout

Erick Ciobanu says Reggiana 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 falling-out at Reggiana

Martín Suárez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Reggiana training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lorenzo Crisetig 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.

Player ratings

Martín Suárez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

240 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

3 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

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

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

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriele Desiderato

63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Reggiana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

45 days out for Gabriele Baraldi after a fracture

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.

Boardroom

Reggiana 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.

The dugout

Andrea Seculin keeps the receipts

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

Squad

A falling-out at Reggiana

Natan Girma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Reggiana come up short against Hellas Verona

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

The dugout

Matteo Enza 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

Words at Reggiana training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vallarelli 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.

In brief

230 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

23 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Matteo Enza keeps Reggiana in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

A hiding for Reggiana

Beaten 0‑3 by Pisa, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Tempers go at Reggiana

Natan Girma 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

A row about effort at Reggiana

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Crisetig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Inquest at Reggiana

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.

Player ratings

Leon Šipoš 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.

The dugout

Interim Coach answers for it

“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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Michele Cavion

“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 dugout

Michele Cavion dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

228 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

9 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Natan Girma scores twice — 8.28

Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

A falling-out at Reggiana

Natan Girma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

400 appearances for Mario Sampirisi

400 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Leo Begolli

At 22 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.

Match

Reggiana get the job done against Virtus Entella

A 2‑0 win over Virtus Entella, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Words at Reggiana training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vallarelli 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.

Boardroom

99% of the income goes out in wages at Reggiana

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.

The dugout

Interim Coach has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

The dugout

Erick Ciobanu 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.

In brief

226 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

25 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

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

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

Match

Reggiana are in real trouble now

Position 18, 6 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

Tempers go at Reggiana

Natan Girma 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

A row about effort at Reggiana

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Crisetig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Reggiana against Cesena

0‑1 to Cesena, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Leo Begolli

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

The dugout

Interim Coach answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Player ratings

Francesco Vallarelli beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

When it matters, Erick Ciobanu plays

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.

In brief

221 Edition

The Reggiana Gazette

21 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Reggiana has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Match

The wait goes on for Reggiana

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Reggiana

Natan Girma 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

Lorenzo Crisetig 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 dugout

No hiding place for Michele Cavion

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

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

Michele Cavion dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Match

Point won or two lost for Reggiana?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Hellas Verona? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

The dugout

When it matters, Erick Ciobanu plays

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.

In brief