“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 The request is on a desk at Triestina, and it is not being withdrawn.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Triestina have had the benefit of 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 Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Triestina, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Domenico Frare will call it something else in private.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Triestina is running low.
Kristófer Jónsson 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Kristjan Matošević knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
He is 19, and nobody at Triestina signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Triestina can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Triestina have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kristjan Matošević 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 upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Triestina is running low.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Triestina can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian D'Urso and Triestina agree another 4 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Triestina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Triestina can pretend not to have heard.
Jerry van Wolfgang 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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Dolomiti Bellunesi? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
16 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.
“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 Triestina, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leonardo Pedicillo and Triestina agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
14 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Position 17 and 14 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.
Jerry van Wolfgang 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Jamaal Mullin reports back to Triestina with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
9 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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alberto Cecconi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 34 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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 Triestina, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tommaso Silvestri and Triestina agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Triestina is running low.
4 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.
Kristjan Matošević 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Cittadella defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonardo Pedicillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Triestina can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Salernitana for Jamaal Mullin 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.
Jerry van Wolfgang 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.
Add another name to the list: Dolomiti Bellunesi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Francesco Borriello. The answer from Triestina has not changed — yet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Triestina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Triestina can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Bra for Francesco Borriello 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gabriele Di Cesare is 17, and Triestina have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Jerry van Wolfgang 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.
“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 Triestina, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Simone Ardizzone is 20, and Triestina have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Triestina says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
9 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 Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.30 — 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.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Triestina squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
8 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Triestina can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Triestina is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Triestina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It needed Alessandro Faggioli to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Virtus Verona, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.