Marked for Sebastian Strappini
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Jul 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. William Laugesen is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
The deal with Torino is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Boardroom21 Jul 2031
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Virtus Verona now.
Squad21 Jul 2031
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.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Modena have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 dugout21 Jul 2031
“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.
Market21 Jul 2031
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Virtus Verona could get for him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Jul 2031
The mood at Virtus Verona 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.
Boardroom14 Jul 2031
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Virtus Verona is running low.
Market14 Jul 2031
“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 The request is on a desk at Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jul 2031
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad14 Jul 2031
At 19 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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Sebastian Suvanne has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cremonese have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Jun 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spezia have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Lazio 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domenico Silvestri 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 dugout30 Jun 2031
“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.
Market30 Jun 2031
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Virtus Verona know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
Claudio Rossi 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 Claudio Rossi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Jun 2031
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
Everything agreed with Genoa, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Boardroom23 Jun 2031
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Virtus Verona now.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benevento have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
A loan enquiry to Como: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
Virtus Verona have made the call to Livorno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domenico Silvestri 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 dugout23 Jun 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jun 2031
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market9 Jun 2031
“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 Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
“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.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
The deal with Perugia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benevento have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Catania 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 dugout9 Jun 2031
David Dupuis 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.
Market9 Jun 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Harrison Gray signs something — a contract at Virtus Verona or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout26 May 2031
Claudio Rossi: 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.” Virtus Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 May 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolò Moranduzzo commits to Virtus Verona for another 4 years.
Squad26 May 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 May 2031
Sebastian Suvanne 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.
Boardroom26 May 2031
The numbers do not look good at Virtus Verona
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market26 May 2031
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market26 May 2031
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Virtus Verona money.
Market26 May 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leonardo Zarpellon signs something — a contract at Virtus Verona or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout26 May 2031
David Dupuis 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 Virtus Verona, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 May 2031
1‑4 to Trento, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match12 May 2031
Every point is an argument now for Virtus Verona
Position 17 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.
Market12 May 2031
“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.
Match10 May 2031
6 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.
Squad12 May 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad12 May 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 May 2031
“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.
Squad12 May 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Leonardo Zarpellon
11 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings12 May 2031
A performance of 8.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 May 2031
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 Virtus Verona can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Match3 May 2031
5 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 May 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
The dugout5 May 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Player ratings5 May 2031
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 May 2031
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 May 2031
Sebastian Suvanne 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.
Boardroom5 May 2031
Wages swallow 96% of the Virtus Verona 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.
The dugout5 May 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Apr 2031
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Apr 2031
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Nicolò Moranduzzo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Sergio Kalaj 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.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 terraces28 Apr 2031
At 23 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.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
The manager makes an example of Davide Del Rio
“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.
Player ratings28 Apr 2031
Thomas Dall'Oca was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
Squad28 Apr 2031
10 goals and a season average of 7.22. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Sebastian Strappini will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Apr 2031
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Apr 2031
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.
Match12 Apr 2031
Beaten 0‑3 by Union Brescia, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match14 Apr 2031
Position 17, 15 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.
Market14 Apr 2031
“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 Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Virtus Verona may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match12 Apr 2031
Virtus Verona are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad14 Apr 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Sebastian Suvanne 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
Squad7 Apr 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Apr 2031
Beaten 0‑4 by Lumezzane, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolò Moranduzzo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Apr 2031
No clean sheets in sight for Virtus Verona
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Sebastian Suvanne 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.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
“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.
Market7 Apr 2031
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Thomas Dall'Oca has his answer from Virtus Verona; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Mar 2031
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match15 Mar 2031
0‑4 against Pro Patria, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match17 Mar 2031
Position 17, 12 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.
Market17 Mar 2031
“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.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Mar 2031
13 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.
Match8 Mar 2031
11 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Sergio Kalaj 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 terraces10 Mar 2031
At 23 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.
Player ratings10 Mar 2031
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
“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.
Boardroom10 Mar 2031
Wages eat 91% of everything Virtus Verona 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Mar 2031
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match1 Mar 2031
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
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 Virtus Verona can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Player ratings3 Mar 2031
Flavio Costa could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.29
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.29, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
The dugout3 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad3 Mar 2031
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.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 dugout3 Mar 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Feb 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match8 Feb 2031
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Leonardo Zarpellon will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Virtus Verona escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Match8 Feb 2031
7 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match8 Feb 2031
No clean sheets in sight for Virtus Verona
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benevento have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
“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 ratings10 Feb 2031
Leonardo Zarpellon was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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
Crisis
Squad3 Feb 2031
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
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.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Window shuts: 3 in, 5 out at Virtus Verona
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Virtus Verona now.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad3 Feb 2031
William Laugesen 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.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
87% of the income goes out in wages at Virtus Verona
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.
Squad3 Feb 2031
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Virtus Verona will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Jan 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Jan 2031
Beaten 0‑4 by Ospitaletto, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
Everything agreed with Udinese, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match11 Jan 2031
4 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Match11 Jan 2031
4 matches without a goal for Virtus Verona
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 dugout13 Jan 2031
“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.
Match13 Jan 2031
Position 17, 10 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Jan 2031
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
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 Virtus Verona can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 Jan 2031
“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 Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Virtus Verona may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match4 Jan 2031
3 matches without a goal for Virtus Verona
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Virtus Verona asked and AC Milan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Match4 Jan 2031
Pro Vercelli left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davide Del Rio, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Dec 2030
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match7 Dec 2030
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.
Match7 Dec 2030
0‑4 against Arzignano, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 dugout9 Dec 2030
“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.
Boardroom9 Dec 2030
Nobody left the Virtus Verona dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Boardroom9 Dec 2030
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Dec 2030
The mood at Virtus Verona 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 151 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
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 Virtus Verona can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Match30 Nov 2030
0‑3 to Union Brescia, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match30 Nov 2030
8 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
8 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.
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Virtus Verona is running low.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Sergio Kalaj 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 Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Nov 2030
Beaten 0‑3 by Lecco, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match9 Nov 2030
5 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
“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.
Match9 Nov 2030
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad11 Nov 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francesco Rossi commits to Virtus Verona for another 3 years.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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 dugout11 Nov 2030
“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.
Boardroom11 Nov 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces4 Nov 2030
The mood at Virtus Verona 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.
Match2 Nov 2030
Beaten 0‑6 by Pro Patria, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match2 Nov 2030
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Match2 Nov 2030
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Virtus Verona and Pro Patria, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom4 Nov 2030
The numbers do not look good at Virtus Verona
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad4 Nov 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” William Laugesen and Virtus Verona agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
Boardroom4 Nov 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout28 Oct 2030
Romano Barbieri: 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.” Virtus Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Oct 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Davide Del Rio commits to Virtus Verona for another 3 years.
Squad28 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
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 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
“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.
Match26 Oct 2030
Point won or two lost for Virtus Verona?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Triestina? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead28 Oct 2030
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Pro Patria in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces7 Oct 2030
Supporters organise against the Virtus Verona 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.
Match5 Oct 2030
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad7 Oct 2030
The match ball belongs to Leonardo Zarpellon, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match5 Oct 2030
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Boardroom7 Oct 2030
The numbers do not look good at Virtus Verona
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The terraces7 Oct 2030
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match5 Oct 2030
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Leonardo Zarpellon in the middle of it, and Pergolettese unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastian Strappini, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Sep 2030
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.
Match25 Sep 2030
Campobasso ended it 1‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match28 Sep 2030
8 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Match28 Sep 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
“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 dugout30 Sep 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad30 Sep 2030
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Sep 2030
There were 18 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 terraces9 Sep 2030
The mood at Virtus Verona 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.
Match7 Sep 2030
A 0‑3 beating by Cittadella was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match7 Sep 2030
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.
Transfer targets9 Sep 2030
No thanks: Karamoko Kaba rejects the move
Virtus Verona 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.
Match7 Sep 2030
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Virtus Verona now.
The terraces9 Sep 2030
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Sebastian Strappini
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Virtus Verona dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2030
Position 18, 18 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.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Nicolò Moranduzzo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad19 Aug 2030
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. William Laugesen has just signed for Virtus Verona, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad19 Aug 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Borna Požega and Virtus Verona agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets19 Aug 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pineto have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Dall'Oca, and the manager let it.
Market19 Aug 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Leonardo Zarpellon’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Aug 2030
Pressure builds in the Virtus Verona boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom5 Aug 2030
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.
Market5 Aug 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Virtus Verona can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Aug 2030
9 seasons and 320 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Borna Požega is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Nicolò Moranduzzo 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.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout5 Aug 2030
“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.
Market5 Aug 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Dec 2029
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Audace Cerignola are no longer polite ones.
Market10 Dec 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.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Dawid Bembnista pops up at the right end — 7.29
7.29, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The dugout10 Dec 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.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Stefano Greco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Words at Audace Cerignola training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rosen Bozhinov 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.
Match8 Dec 2029
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match8 Dec 2029
1‑2 to Monopoli, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Stefano Greco
“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.