Marked for Fabio Spinelli
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom14 Jul 2036
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Lumezzane
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market14 Jul 2036
“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.
Market14 Jul 2036
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Davide Martini has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market14 Jul 2036
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Paolo Schiavone has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market14 Jul 2036
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Roberto Casella has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad14 Jul 2036
Lucas Zeballos 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.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2036
Dolomiti Bellunesi 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 targets14 Jul 2036
A loan enquiry to Bologna: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2036
Lumezzane have made the call to Catania. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Mar 2036
“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 dugout31 Mar 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lumezzane may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Jordan Beyer 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 Lumezzane this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom31 Mar 2036
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.
Squad31 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Lumezzane
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Zeballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alen Poghosyan, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead31 Mar 2036
Ascoli next, and one man in the Lumezzane dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
Nobody at Lumezzane 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.
Market31 Mar 2036
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Lumezzane could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Nov 2035
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lumezzane will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom5 Nov 2035
The scrutiny sharpens at Lumezzane
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Lumezzane is running low.
Market5 Nov 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lumezzane can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Nov 2035
Jordan Beyer and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match3 Nov 2035
A 1‑0 win over Arzignano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad5 Nov 2035
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Lumezzane
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Zeballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Nov 2035
“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 ratings5 Nov 2035
Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Lumezzane had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Sep 2035
“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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
45 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom10 Sep 2035
Cosenza will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Alexandr Mkrtychyan has pre-agreed a move to Lumezzane, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad10 Sep 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Roberto Villa and Lumezzane agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2035
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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
The medical room confirms 40 days on the sidelines for Fabio Spinelli, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad10 Sep 2035
A row about effort at Lumezzane
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tiziano Del Maschio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
“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.
Market10 Sep 2035
No place for Ibai Sierra in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ibai Sierra has his answer from Lumezzane; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom13 Aug 2035
The scrutiny sharpens at Lumezzane
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Lumezzane is running low.
Market13 Aug 2035
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Mattia Sonzogni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Aug 2035
A row about effort at Lumezzane
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Bueno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2035
Lumezzane asked and Pisa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad13 Aug 2035
68 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom13 Aug 2035
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.
Market13 Aug 2035
“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.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2035
A loan enquiry to Perugia: 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
Uneasy
Boardroom7 May 2035
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 Lumezzane can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 May 2035
“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 dugout7 May 2035
“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.
Squad7 May 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alejandro González and Lumezzane agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom7 May 2035
The owner puts $349.7K into Lumezzane
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad7 May 2035
Words at Lumezzane training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnis Ademi 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.
Squad7 May 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lumezzane this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 May 2035
“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.
Boardroom7 May 2035
Lumezzane are $21.1M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Oct 2034
38 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Oct 2034
Words at Lumezzane training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tiziano Del Maschio 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 dugout16 Oct 2034
Arthur Dobson 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 Arthur Dobson is on it.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
José Duran 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.
Market16 Oct 2034
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lumezzane know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
Agustín Mello 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 dugout16 Oct 2034
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Lumezzane. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market16 Oct 2034
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lumezzane, another week without a signature from Thomas Sabitzer.
Squad16 Oct 2034
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Lumezzane would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.