Marked for Gianluca Baldi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Apr 2031
14 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad21 Apr 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gianluca Baldi
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Audace Cerignola lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces21 Apr 2031
Supporters organise against the Audace Cerignola board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom21 Apr 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Audace Cerignola
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad21 Apr 2031
16 days out for Stanislav Grinev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Audace Cerignola will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad21 Apr 2031
A season average of 7.40 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match19 Apr 2031
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Claudio Parlato, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Apr 2031
Claudio Parlato was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Apr 2031
13 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad14 Apr 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gianluca Baldi
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Audace Cerignola lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 Apr 2031
Matteo Cortesi wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Matteo Cortesi found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Picerno went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Squad14 Apr 2031
A fracture rules Stanislav Grinev out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Audace Cerignola will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Apr 2031
“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 Audace Cerignola, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Junior Ajayi
16 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match12 Apr 2031
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Picerno were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Match12 Apr 2031
A 3‑2 win over Picerno, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
Diego Gambale was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.85. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Apr 2031
Gianluca Baldi damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Apr 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.
Match5 Apr 2031
No end in sight to Audace Cerignola's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Audace Cerignola has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Apr 2031
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Apr 2031
A season average of 7.38 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Andrea Gasbarro 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 terraces7 Apr 2031
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.