Marked for Juliano
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Spezia
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Spezia is running low.
Squad16 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Caldara, and the manager let it.
Market16 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ángel García has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Spezia.
Market16 Aug 2027
The name of Petko Hristov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Spezia say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spezia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Pressure builds in the Spezia boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Juliano
“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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The name of Petko Hristov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Spezia say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Spezia
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Spezia is running low.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A season average of 7.49 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Spezia know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Market21 Jun 2027
Atalanta paid $4.9M and Spezia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spezia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A defender's afternoon for Petko Hristov
Defensive actions: 38. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 34. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spezia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Petko Hristov is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.36 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match17 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mattia Valoti. 1‑0 against Frosinone, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Juliano 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Sep 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Ádám Nagy
Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Spezia
Petko Hristov 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 9.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Mattia Caldara
“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.