Marked for Alejandro Otero
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Jun 2030
“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.
Squad3 Jun 2030
David Suazo gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. David Suazo has just signed for Virtus Entella, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad3 Jun 2030
John Yeboah 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.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alessio Insignito and Virtus Entella agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Luigi Cuppone slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Luigi Cuppone is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Loan watch3 Jun 2030
34 appearances at Pianese and the goals keep coming. Virtus Entella are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
A loan move for Agustín Álvarez is in the works
Virtus Entella have made the call to Lazio. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
A loan enquiry to Ravenna: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
88% of the income goes out in wages at Virtus Entella
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout25 Mar 2030
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Virtus Entella have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Stefano Di Mario 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.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Mar 2030
John Yeboah 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.
Match23 Mar 2030
Südtirol left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Ninety minutes of John Yeboah at his very best
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Virtus Entella.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Defences have started doubling up on John Yeboah
7 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Boardroom25 Mar 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
Steady
Market28 Jan 2030
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
Manuel Remis: 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 Entella have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Jan 2030
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Andrea Tiritiello 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.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and John Yeboah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jan 2030
Virtus Entella asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Castelli
8 goals and a season average of 7.22 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Jul 2029
Kian Fitz-Jim was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alejandro Otero is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad30 Jul 2029
John Yeboah 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Too much change too quickly at Virtus Entella
7 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.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
Manuel Remis 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.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
Luigi Cuppone 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 Entella, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
Nobody at Virtus Entella will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The terraces30 Jul 2029
Supporters make their feelings known about Stefano Di Mario
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Virtus Entella would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jun 2029
Luigi Pedaci breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Virtus Entella may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and John Yeboah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Virtus Entella asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Kian Fitz-Jim and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Virtus Entella know it.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
Luigi Cuppone asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.