Marked for Bunyodjon Izzatov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hellas Verona have kept their man, and Casarano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casarano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Atalanta have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
Denny Pucci 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 Casarano, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Bunyodjon Izzatov 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 dugout30 Jul 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jun 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
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 Casarano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jun 2029
A row about effort at Casarano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ertijon Gega was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Casarano asked and Atalanta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jun 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; Casarano are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Cosenza 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.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
A loan move for Sakoba Keita is in the works
Casarano have made the call to Bari. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Casarano 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 dugout11 Jun 2029
Ertijon Gega 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 Ertijon Gega is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Ismael Cajazzo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ismael Cajazzo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Casarano the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 May 2029
A falling-out at Casarano
Edoardo Zanaga and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Casarano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ertijon Gega is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Casarano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Thiago Serrano: 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.” Casarano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Casarano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ertijon Gega was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Casarano
Thiago Serrano 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 dugout2 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stefano Negro, and the manager let it.
Market2 Apr 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Casarano, another week without a signature from Ertijon Gega.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Flavio Di Dio knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Flavio Di Dio trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead2 Apr 2029
A test against the best for Casarano
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 Padova.
Looking ahead2 Apr 2029
Padova next, and one man in the Casarano dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salvatore Cerbone will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Casarano the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Casarano
Edoardo Zanaga 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Casarano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismael Cajazzo 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edoardo Zanaga, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Casarano can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Leonardo Bertolini was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Casarano dressing room was either.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Ertijon Gega 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 dugout26 Mar 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 Emmanuele Matino is on it.
Match24 Mar 2029
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Casertana will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Sep 2028
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Casarano lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market11 Sep 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salvatore Cerbone will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Casarano the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Vito Leonetti 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Karlo Lulić 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 dugout11 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Flavio Di Dio
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bunyodjon Izzatov commits to Casarano for another 3 years.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casarano, and both men came out saying it was fine.