Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. John Yeboah wants continental football; whether Pescara can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The name of Andrea Favilli has come up in conversations Pescara were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Pescara offered $57.0K; Hellas Verona said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davide Bartesaghi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Palermo have kept their man, and Pescara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gubbio will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Forli for Sasha Guidi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
$410.0K on the table at Cremonese. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gubbio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Rodrigo Díaz 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gubbio will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Gubbio people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Marco Spina was one of the reasons people came, and $3.3M does not replace that by itself.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gubbio have done the hard part with Benevento, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Novara have kept their man, and Gubbio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$73.0K was the most the club would pay and Sampdoria were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
In brief
SquadGiacomo Rosaia falls out with a teammate over standards
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Arezzo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gubbio is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Add another name to the list: Udinese have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ilias Koutsoupias. The answer from Gubbio has not changed — yet.
Gubbio had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Renate, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
$73.0K on the table at Sampdoria. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Gubbio offered $150.0K; Perugia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Spina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gubbio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Spina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simón Comesaña trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nicola Murru and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gubbio know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sasha Guidi has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nicola Murru 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giacomo Rosaia 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Louis Bonnieu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gubbio the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Titas Krapikas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
“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; Gubbio are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Titas Krapikas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gubbio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nahuel Arias and Gubbio agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Massimo Ventura was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Gubbio dressing room was either.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gubbio lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Gubbio can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gubbio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nahuel Arias commits to Gubbio for another 2 years.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giacomo Rosaia 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Gubbio, and 3 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gubbio lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giacomo Rosaia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alessio Di Massimo.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Massimo Ventura left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Massimo Ventura has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gubbio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
8.16. 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Felipe Mastro Pietro has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gubbio lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gubbio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
Gubbio ran out of time with Carrarese. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Rodrigo Díaz damages knee ligaments — 111 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gubbio have done the hard part with Ravenna, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Giugliano moved on, Titas Krapikas reports back to Gubbio, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
$110.0K was the most the club would pay and Carrarese were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Marco Spina 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Empoli have kept their man, and Gubbio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everybody at Gubbio saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gubbio lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gubbio have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
“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 Gubbio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gubbio have gone to Carrarese with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
Gubbio asked and Union Brescia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
133 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gubbio lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Gubbio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nicola Murru and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Spina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nahuel Arias has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Massimo Ventura left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Marked 8.25. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gubbio.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Díaz 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.
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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
Santiago Orizi 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.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Gubbio. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Gubbio have no good answer.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Spina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Gubbio know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gubbio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutNahuel Arias dropped after a run of poor form
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Alessio Di Massimo scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Vicenza, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
Gubbio asked and Cittadella said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Massimo Ventura after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gubbio will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Gubbio until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gubbio have done the hard part with Vicenza, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cavese is saying, and nobody at Gubbio is enjoying the guessing.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonardo Marson, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Díaz 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.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gubbio lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gubbio will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Spina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Catanzaro have kept their man, and Gubbio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gubbio will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Gubbio can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“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 Gubbio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Spina 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Gubbio can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gubbio lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gubbio have done the hard part with Arezzo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gubbio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Ravenna this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
$74.0K was the most the club would pay and Audace Cerignola were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Gubbio asked and Arezzo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Díaz 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gubbio lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
The offer went to Audace Cerignola this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
$24.0K was the most the club would pay and Ravenna were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Spina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cagliari have kept their man, and Gubbio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Gubbio have done the hard part with Monopoli, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Gubbio have gone to Ravenna with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Marco Spina 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juve Stabia have kept their man, and Gubbio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Gubbio 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.
Rodrigo Díaz 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Díaz 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrea La Mantia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ignazio Bianchi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Gubbio dressing room was either.
Nobody at Gubbio is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Sambenedettese? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Vis Pesaro in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Successful dribbles: 8. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Gubbio know it.
Caio Garcia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Ignazio Bianchi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Lorenzo Podda
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Lorenzo Podda has come out of that comparison in the side, and Gubbio have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager's exit leaves Ichem Ferrah exposed
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gubbio lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A 1‑0 win over Campobasso, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Rodrigo Díaz 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.
Louis Bonnieu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Nahuel Arias
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gubbio lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ichem Ferrah has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match11 Mar 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Gubbio. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Samuele Belmonte and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gubbio lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Gubbio can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gubbio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nicola Murru 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.
“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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Rodrigo Díaz 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.
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.
Position 15 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gubbio have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with Picerno; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The offer from Alcione Milano for Giacomo Beretta was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hellas Verona have kept their man, and Gubbio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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 Gubbio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gubbio asked and Hellas Verona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Díaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lorenzo Podda has his answer from Gubbio; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Marco Spina
A 1‑0 win over Vis Pesaro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Rodrigo Díaz 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.
Caio Garcia 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.
Half the programme played, position 14, 15 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
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.
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ignazio Bianchi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonardo Marson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Díaz 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.
“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; Gubbio are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Ignazio Bianchi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Louis Bonnieu 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
5 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.
1 for Ilias Koutsoupias, marked 7.53, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Nicola Murru and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonardo Marson, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Gubbio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Díaz 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.