Marked for Aymane Aouainate
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Dec 2028
The wait goes on for Torres
10 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.
Match16 Dec 2028
6 matches without a goal for Torres
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Torres
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Cardozo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match16 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Torres
Aymane Aouainate 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 dugout18 Dec 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
Antonino Musso asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market18 Dec 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Torres, another week without a signature from Leonardo Baroncelli.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Roland Baracskai out for 97 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Torres
Aymane Aouainate 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
29 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Alessandro Tosti 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 dugout20 Nov 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Cardozo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Francesco Corsinelli’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Torres needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Dec 2027
Cosimo Chiricò damages knee ligaments — 112 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Ertijon Gega
“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.
Match25 Dec 2027
Altamura left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Adam Mesjasz 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.
Match27 Dec 2027
Casarano at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 11, 19 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Cosimo Chiricò knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cosimo Chiricò trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Aymane Aouainate 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
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
Cosimo Chiricò damages knee ligaments — 119 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 119 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
“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 ratings20 Dec 2027
Ninety minutes of Vincenzo Millico at his very best
Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Casarano.
Match18 Dec 2027
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Market20 Dec 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ismael Cajazzo has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Casarano.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Denny Pucci and Casarano agree another 3 years.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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.
Match18 Dec 2027
It needed Vincenzo Millico to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Ascoli, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Enrico Rossi after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Dec 2027
Cosimo Chiricò 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.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Adam Mesjasz: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Casarano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Loan watch6 Dec 2027
“I watch every Casarano game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hellas Verona runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match4 Dec 2027
Casertana made Casarano work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Wages swallow 91% of the Casarano 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Andrea Preto is 20, and Casarano have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrea Preto commits to Casarano for another 3 years.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Vito Leonetti
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Vito Leonetti has come out of that comparison in the side, and Casarano have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Oct 2027
At last: Casarano win one
11 matches without a win, and then this, against Salernitana. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cosimo Chiricò and Casarano agree another 2 years.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cosimo Chiricò, and the manager let it.
Match2 Oct 2027
Salernitana made Casarano work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Market4 Oct 2027
“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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.89 on the card, and the Casarano support went home talking about one name.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Casarano
Aymane Aouainate 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages eat 88% of everything Casarano 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Enrico Rossi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Casarano
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Casarano is running low.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ignacio Giacinti has just signed for Casarano, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Casarano had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lazio, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Casarano
Gabriel Vázquez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Sampdoria have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Too much change too quickly at Casarano
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Market16 Aug 2027
Campobasso are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Casarano will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad16 Aug 2027
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Casarano will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Aug 2027
$2.2M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Match9 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for Casarano
Position 16 and 22 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
Supporters turn on the $2.2M sale of Borna Knezović
He is going to Avellino, the club has $2.2M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Casarano asked and Mantova said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leandro Versienti and Casarano agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Casarano
Aymane Aouainate and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Frosinone have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Mantova 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Jul 2027
Casarano are in real trouble now
Position 16, 22 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Novara waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Casarano is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The deal with Arezzo 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 targets12 Jul 2027
Casarano asked and Lecce said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jul 2027
41 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Lecce: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Casarano
Gabriel Vázquez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Casarano is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Lecce: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Wages eat 88% of everything Casarano 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
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 Ismael Cajazzo is on it.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“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 dugout28 Jun 2027
Stefano Negro knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casarano, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Borna Knezović
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Casarano would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 May 2027
Borna Knezović 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.
Market3 May 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Cosimo Chiricò has his answer from Casarano; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout3 May 2027
Ertijon Gega 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
89% of the income goes out in wages at Casarano
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 May 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Gabriel Vázquez
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gabriel Vázquez has come out of that comparison in the side, and Casarano have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout3 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Casarano, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout3 May 2027
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 Ismael Cajazzo is on it.
Squad3 May 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.