Marked for Francesco Rech
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jan 2037
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 57 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 57 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.
The terraces19 Jan 2037
The mood at Südtirol 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.
Squad19 Jan 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Jan 2037
Arturo Ricci, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.08
A mark of 8.08 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market19 Jan 2037
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Südtirol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Jan 2037
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Südtirol may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Jan 2037
A season average of 7.51 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match17 Jan 2037
Avellino left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings19 Jan 2037
Andrea Giovanni Auci was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.63. 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jan 2037
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 64 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.
Squad12 Jan 2037
There were 9 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.
Squad12 Jan 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Jan 2037
Arturo Ricci, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.31
A mark of 8.31 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad12 Jan 2037
“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.
Boardroom12 Jan 2037
Südtirol cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Boardroom12 Jan 2037
Südtirol are $43.3M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Match10 Jan 2037
Honours even between Südtirol and Bari
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market12 Jan 2037
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alessandro Mallamo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jan 2037
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 71 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Match3 Jan 2037
4‑1, and Arturo Ricci took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Südtirol tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad5 Jan 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad5 Jan 2037
Simone Davi has been here 17 seasons
540 appearances across 17 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Player ratings5 Jan 2037
A brace, and Arturo Ricci takes the afternoon — 8.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Arturo Ricci provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market5 Jan 2037
“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 Jan 2037
Marco Ferilli: 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.” Südtirol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings5 Jan 2037
Marked 9.58 — 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.
Boardroom5 Jan 2037
$740.5K of the owner's money at Südtirol
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Dec 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 78 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Boardroom29 Dec 2036
The scrutiny sharpens at Südtirol
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Südtirol is running low.
Squad29 Dec 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings29 Dec 2036
No sign of nerves from Arturo Ricci at 21 — 8.20
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Arturo Ricci did not need any: 8.20, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market29 Dec 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Südtirol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Dec 2036
Hubert Samotyja: 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.” Südtirol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Dec 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces29 Dec 2036
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.
Boardroom29 Dec 2036
135% of the income goes out in wages at Südtirol
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Dec 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 85 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.
The terraces22 Dec 2036
The mood at Südtirol 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.
Squad22 Dec 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad22 Dec 2036
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.
Market22 Dec 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Südtirol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Dec 2036
Alessandro Mallamo 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.
Match20 Dec 2036
Juve Stabia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings22 Dec 2036
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings22 Dec 2036
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Dec 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 92 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Squad15 Dec 2036
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 ratings15 Dec 2036
No sign of nerves from Arturo Ricci at 21 — 8.26
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Arturo Ricci did not need any: 8.26, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad15 Dec 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Dec 2036
A season average of 7.48 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match13 Dec 2036
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stefan Grillitsch. 3‑1 against Monza, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings15 Dec 2036
Marked 9.13 — 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 ratings15 Dec 2036
Andrea Giovanni Auci was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.86. 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.
Boardroom15 Dec 2036
Südtirol cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Dec 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 99 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
Boardroom8 Dec 2036
Interim Coach has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Südtirol can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad8 Dec 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom8 Dec 2036
Crisis meeting at Südtirol
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Player ratings8 Dec 2036
Defensive actions: 31. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings8 Dec 2036
A brace, and Arturo Ricci takes the afternoon — 8.45
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Arturo Ricci provided it, and the 8.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad8 Dec 2036
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.
Boardroom8 Dec 2036
An order from above at Südtirol: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad8 Dec 2036
Alessandro Mallamo 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Dec 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 106 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 106 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.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom1 Dec 2036
The scrutiny sharpens at Südtirol
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Südtirol is running low.
Market1 Dec 2036
“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 Südtirol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Dec 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Words at Südtirol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Davi 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 Nov 2036
0‑1 to Sampdoria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom1 Dec 2036
Wages eat 122% of everything Südtirol earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings1 Dec 2036
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Nov 2036
Alessandro Mallamo 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.
The terraces24 Nov 2036
The mood at Südtirol 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.
Squad24 Nov 2036
There were 9 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.
Squad24 Nov 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings24 Nov 2036
Arturo Ricci, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.46
A mark of 8.46 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 Nov 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Südtirol can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Nov 2036
Alessandro Mallamo 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.
Match22 Nov 2036
Whatever happens, Südtirol do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings24 Nov 2036
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Nov 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 120 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match15 Nov 2036
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Mantova, and it could have been more.
Squad17 Nov 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Nov 2036
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Südtirol did not have in the autumn.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Andrea Giovanni Auci 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 Nov 2036
Ninety minutes of Stefan Grillitsch at his very best
Marked 9.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Südtirol.
Player ratings17 Nov 2036
Marked 9.01 — 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 ratings17 Nov 2036
Ninety minutes of Jacopo Martini at his very best
Marked 8.77. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Südtirol.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Nov 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 127 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 127 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.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 Nov 2036
“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.
Market10 Nov 2036
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Will Spalanzino will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Südtirol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Alessandro Mallamo 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.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Simone Davi 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.
Match8 Nov 2036
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrea Giovanni Auci. 2‑1 against Virtus Entella, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings10 Nov 2036
Ninety minutes of Stefan Grillitsch at his very best
Marked 8.69. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Südtirol.
Player ratings10 Nov 2036
Andrea Giovanni Auci was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.56. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Nov 2036
Alessandro Mallamo damages knee ligaments — 134 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 134 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.
Squad3 Nov 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad3 Nov 2036
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 ratings3 Nov 2036
Tamás Farkas, 33, rolls back the years — 8.86
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.86 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad3 Nov 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Nov 2036
Tamás Farkas among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Tamás Farkas on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Südtirol and Cagliari.
Boardroom3 Nov 2036
The owner puts $1.1M into Südtirol
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Player ratings3 Nov 2036
Ninety minutes of Stefan Grillitsch at his very best
Marked 9.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Südtirol.
Player ratings3 Nov 2036
Marked 8.01 — 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.