Marked for Mattia Andreoli
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Feb 2031
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pianese lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad10 Feb 2031
There were 8 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.
Market10 Feb 2031
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words exchanged at Pianese
Leonardo Di Cosmo 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 ratings10 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match8 Feb 2031
Pontedera left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom10 Feb 2031
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Boardroom10 Feb 2031
The borrowing at Pianese reaches $18.2M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $18.2M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces27 Jan 2031
The mood at Pianese 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.
Boardroom27 Jan 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Pianese
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad27 Jan 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mattia Andreoli
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pianese lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Jan 2031
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market27 Jan 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.
Match25 Jan 2031
No clean sheets in sight for Pianese
6 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.
Squad27 Jan 2031
A season average of 7.32 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad27 Jan 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 Pianese this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings27 Jan 2031
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Jan 2031
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pianese lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings20 Jan 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.35, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market20 Jan 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pianese can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Jan 2031
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Pianese have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad20 Jan 2031
A falling-out at Pianese
Leonardo Di Cosmo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match18 Jan 2031
Pianese 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.
Match18 Jan 2031
6 goals as Pianese and Bra go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Pianese and Bra, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match18 Jan 2031
Bra made Pianese work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Fotis Laban gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fotis Laban has just signed for Pianese, and for once the answer mattered.