Marked for Louis Buffon
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad10 Sep 2029
A one-man rearguard from Tai Žnuderl
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
No sign of nerves from Gabrijel Šivalec at 21 — 8.33
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gabrijel Šivalec did not need any: 8.33, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Age has not caught Mislav Oršić yet — 7.81
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad10 Sep 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.
Match8 Sep 2029
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market10 Sep 2029
The offer from NK Varazdin for Stipe Ivanovic was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market10 Sep 2029
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Casemiro 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.
Market10 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gabrijel Kovačević will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Zagreb the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces20 Aug 2029
Anger at Pisa 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Arturo Calabresi
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pisa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market20 Aug 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.
Market20 Aug 2029
Only the photograph left for Louis Buffon
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Louis Buffon will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pisa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market20 Aug 2029
Pisa say no — this time
The offer from Udinese for Francesco Coppola was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad20 Aug 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 Pisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Jul 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Arturo Calabresi
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pisa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Jul 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 Pisa can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Francesco Macerata is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Pisa
Mattéo Tramoni 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Pisa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuele Angori 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.
Market30 Jul 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Pisa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces23 Jul 2029
Anger at Pisa 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Arturo Calabresi damages knee ligaments — 113 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 113 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.
Market23 Jul 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 Pisa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pisa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market23 Jul 2029
Novara come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Pisa did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Louis Buffon is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Jul 2029
Arturo Calabresi damages knee ligaments — 122 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 122 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.
Market16 Jul 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 Pisa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Jul 2029
Pisa say no — this time
The offer from Lumezzane for Jeremy Kandje Mbambi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Santiago Muñoz is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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
Tempers go at Pisa
Rafiu Durosinmi 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Pisa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattéo Tramoni 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
Uneasy
Squad9 Jul 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Arturo Calabresi
130 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pisa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Jul 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 Pisa can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Jul 2029
Pisa say no — this time
The offer from CSKA Moscow for Filip Stojilković was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thomas Poletti is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad9 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 Pisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Stefano Moreo and Pisa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Jun 2029
Anger at Pisa 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Arturo Calabresi
146 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pisa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match25 Jun 2029
Every point is an argument now for Pisa
Position 19 and 20 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.
Market25 Jun 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 Pisa can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 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 Pisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Mattéo Tramoni 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
Crisis
Squad16 Apr 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.
Market16 Apr 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Pisa
Mattéo Tramoni 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.
Match14 Apr 2029
Pisa come up short against Lazio
Lazio left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Pisa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michel Aebischer 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.
Squad16 Apr 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; Pisa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market16 Apr 2029
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Pisa needed to.
The terraces16 Apr 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Mattéo Tramoni
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Mar 2029
The wait goes on for Pisa
9 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.
Market26 Mar 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 Pisa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 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.
Market26 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pisa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Mar 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 Pisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattéo Tramoni, and the manager let it.
Match24 Mar 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Michel Aebischer 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 ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Feb 2029
There were 11 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pisa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Feb 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 Pisa can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Feb 2029
The wait goes on for Pisa
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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Pisa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattéo Tramoni 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Pisa
Stefano Moreo 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.
Match17 Feb 2029
Pisa come up short against Genoa
Genoa left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market19 Feb 2029
Pisa have made Simone Scuffet available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Jan 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pisa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Jan 2029
Arezzo come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Pisa did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market15 Jan 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 Pisa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match13 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Pisa's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pisa has to find a result from somewhere.
Market15 Jan 2029
The paperwork is done: Valentín Cerrudo joins from Picerno in a deal worth $520.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
Still no name above the door at Pisa
Day 14 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Simone Canestrelli 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.
Squad15 Jan 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 Pisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Billy Gilmour
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
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.
Market1 Jan 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 Pisa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Jan 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 Pisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rafiu Durosinmi, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
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.
Match30 Dec 2028
Pisa share the spoils with Bologna
A 1‑1 draw with Bologna leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market1 Jan 2029
The name of Simone Canestrelli keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Pisa say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
An afternoon Louis Buffon will want back
Marked 5.62. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Aug 2028
Arturo Calabresi damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Rafiu Durosinmi: 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.” Pisa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match26 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Pisa
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nicolò Baldo is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match26 Aug 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market28 Aug 2028
Trapani are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Pisa will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The terraces28 Aug 2028
Everybody has an opinion about Rafiu Durosinmi
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Pisa $400.0K. İsak Vural left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.