Marked for Mark Smith
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Jun 2039
Simon Audouin hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Tempers go at Torres
Matteo Fugaro 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.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Luis Barbosa 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.
Boardroom13 Jun 2039
Torres cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad13 Jun 2039
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Barbosa, and the manager let it.
Boardroom13 Jun 2039
Torres are $23.5M 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.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Nobody at Torres 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.
Market13 Jun 2039
Torres have made Tiziano Ventura available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market13 Jun 2039
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Mady Diouf leaves Torres the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 May 2039
Simon Audouin hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 May 2039
Luis Barbosa 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.
Boardroom16 May 2039
Torres cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad16 May 2039
Luis Barbosa 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.
Boardroom16 May 2039
Torres are $23.5M 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.
Squad16 May 2039
Nobody at Torres 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces9 May 2039
The mood at Torres 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.
Market9 May 2039
Mark Smith hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 May 2039
Matteo Fugaro 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.
Market9 May 2039
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market9 May 2039
The clock does Rodrigo Melgarejo’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Torres could ask drops and the wages Rodrigo Melgarejo can ask rise.
Squad9 May 2039
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Loris Davide Capodieci keeps the shirt for now, at Torres's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Apr 2039
Simon Audouin hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Apr 2039
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Fugaro 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.
Boardroom18 Apr 2039
Torres cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad18 Apr 2039
The manager makes an example of Luis Barbosa
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom18 Apr 2039
Torres are $23.9M 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.
Player ratings18 Apr 2039
Marked 7.52. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match16 Apr 2039
Honours even between Torres and Gubbio
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad18 Apr 2039
Nobody at Torres 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.
Squad18 Apr 2039
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rodrigo Melgarejo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces11 Apr 2039
The mood at Torres 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.
Market11 Apr 2039
“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.
Squad11 Apr 2039
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Torres are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad11 Apr 2039
Matteo Fugaro 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.
Squad11 Apr 2039
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Torres pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Player ratings11 Apr 2039
Marked 7.73. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad11 Apr 2039
8 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Alexander Drexel has given nobody the chance.
Match9 Apr 2039
It needed Loris Davide Capodieci to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Bra, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market11 Apr 2039
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Mar 2039
Anger at Torres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad14 Mar 2039
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Mar 2039
“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.
Market14 Mar 2039
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Mar 2039
The wait goes on for Torres
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad14 Mar 2039
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match12 Mar 2039
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Mar 2039
Luis Barbosa 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.
Player ratings14 Mar 2039
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Feb 2039
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom28 Feb 2039
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Torres
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market28 Feb 2039
“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.
Match26 Feb 2039
No end in sight to Torres's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torres has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Feb 2039
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Fugaro 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.
Squad28 Feb 2039
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Feb 2039
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match26 Feb 2039
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Mark Smith had Torres level again within 4 minutes, and Ascoli never got to play with a lead at all.
Squad28 Feb 2039
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Rodrigo Melgarejo will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2039
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 Feb 2039
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Feb 2039
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom21 Feb 2039
No signings allowed at Torres
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom21 Feb 2039
The Torres debt reaches $24.1M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Player ratings21 Feb 2039
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad21 Feb 2039
8 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Alexander Drexel has given nobody the chance.
Squad21 Feb 2039
Alexander Drexel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Torres 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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2039
Mark Smith runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Feb 2039
Anger at Torres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad14 Feb 2039
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Feb 2039
Mark Smith hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Feb 2039
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.
Match12 Feb 2039
1‑2 to Sambenedettese, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Feb 2039
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Fugaro 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.
Squad14 Feb 2039
Nobody at Torres 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.
Market14 Feb 2039
4 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Torres money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Feb 2039
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Feb 2039
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Feb 2039
Marco Litti has been here 10 seasons
340 appearances across 10 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.
Squad7 Feb 2039
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cristian Fabriani and Torres agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Feb 2039
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Torres are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom7 Feb 2039
$591.5K of the owner's money at Torres
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.
Match5 Feb 2039
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom7 Feb 2039
106% of the income goes out in wages at Torres
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.
Market7 Feb 2039
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 Jan 2039
Anger at Torres spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad17 Jan 2039
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad17 Jan 2039
There were 10 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.
Market17 Jan 2039
Mark Smith hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jan 2039
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Fugaro 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 terraces17 Jan 2039
The crowd has taken to Adam Isak
At 21 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.
Match15 Jan 2039
A 1‑0 win over Ravenna, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad17 Jan 2039
“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 ratings17 Jan 2039
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jan 2039
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match8 Jan 2039
No end in sight to Torres's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torres has to find a result from somewhere.
Market10 Jan 2039
Adam Isak puts it in writing
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Loan watch10 Jan 2039
“I watch every Torres game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Catania runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match8 Jan 2039
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Jan 2039
Mady Diouf 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.
Boardroom10 Jan 2039
108% of the income goes out in wages at Torres
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.
Squad10 Jan 2039
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.
Squad10 Jan 2039
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.