Marked for Sander Odegaard
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Sep 2040
Nicola Anelli breaks a bone — 83 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match19 Sep 2040
Renate through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Triestina, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match19 Sep 2040
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Renate scored in the 107th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad24 Sep 2040
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.
Player ratings24 Sep 2040
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.26 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings24 Sep 2040
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match22 Sep 2040
8 goals as Renate and Novara go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Renate and Novara, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad24 Sep 2040
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ikechukwu Mgbemena 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.
Squad24 Sep 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Mar 2040
Gennaro Costa has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Renate can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad5 Mar 2040
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad5 Mar 2040
568 appearances across 12 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.
Market5 Mar 2040
“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 Renate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Mar 2040
Tempers go at Renate
Lorenzo Ressia 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.
Squad5 Mar 2040
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentyn Morhun 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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2040
$2.4M of the owner's money at Renate
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.
Match3 Mar 2040
AlbinoLeffe left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market5 Mar 2040
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Renate know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Sep 2039
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renate lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Sep 2039
There were 11 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.
Match21 Sep 2039
Renate through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Giana Erminio, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match21 Sep 2039
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Renate scored in the 105th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings26 Sep 2039
James Carter could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.22
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.22, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Squad26 Sep 2039
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Renate may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings26 Sep 2039
Charlie Daley goes up and wins it — 7.30
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.30 for the rest of it.
Market26 Sep 2039
Only the photograph left for Angelo Testa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Angelo Testa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Renate the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Sep 2039
Tempers go at Renate
Mattia Compagnon 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.