25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matteo Bosi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ascoli did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
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 Ascoli have had the benefit of it.
Tommaso Milanese 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 one award nobody else on the pitch can win goes to Simone Perilli, on 23 clean sheets across the season. Keepers wait a career for a season like it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ascoli told Augusto Bando something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli 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 Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Ascoli 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ascoli. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 65 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Ascoli did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thomas Clementi 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.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
Tommaso Milanese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
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 Kevin Roth left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
In brief
The dugoutSimone Perilli has become a man the manager trusts
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matteo Bosi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francesco Galuppini and Ascoli agree another 2 years.
“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; Ascoli are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Ascoli pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ascoli have received the call every well-run club eventually receives — somebody bigger has noticed Kevin Roth. Saying no is easy; keeping him convinced is the actual work.
Tommaso Milanese 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 said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Simone Perilli's mistake
Newcastle United have made their interest known and Ascoli have to have a conversation they never wanted. A manager other clubs ask about is a manager whose next contract costs more.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Kevin Roth on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 Matteo Bosi.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Corradini 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Tommaso Milanese 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Tommaso Milanese is on it.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Kevin Roth chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Something was said to Francesco Cozzoli and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout3 Mar 2031
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 Kevin Roth left the room before anybody could ask which.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
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.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Kevin Roth chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ascoli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
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 Matteo Bosi.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ascoli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Tommaso Milanese 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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 Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Ascoli 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli 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 Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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 Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Ascoli 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Pineto the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Ascoli will enjoy reviewing.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.22 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini 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. Feirense have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tommaso Milanese. 1‑0 against Pianese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Position 3, 44 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Ascoli will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Tommaso Milanese 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 said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini 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. Ternana have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.43 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francesco Galuppini. 1‑0 against Guidonia Montecelio, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.34 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Francesco Galuppini 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 Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Napoli go through and Ascoli go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.80 beside his name.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danko Ciobanu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Francesco Galuppini 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 said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Kevin Roth to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Forli will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ascoli were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
A brace, and Don Bolsius takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Don Bolsius provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thomas Clementi 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.
In brief
Player ratingsTommaso Milanese was on a different afternoon to everybody else
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Tommaso Milanese 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 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.
“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 ratings18 Nov 2030
Thomas Clementi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Tommaso Milanese scored in the 88th minute, Pontedera had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Ascoli took the lot.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Valentino Messina 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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.24 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 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 performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Kevin Roth, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ascoli, another week without a signature from Nicholas Rizzo.
Francesco Galuppini 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 Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Kevin Roth could afford to be generous.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ascoli told Nicholas Rizzo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danko Ciobanu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutNoah Moretti has become a man the manager trusts
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bruno Scandella trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
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 first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Sambenedettese; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ascoli, another week without a signature from Danko Ciobanu.
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.
5‑0, and Don Bolsius took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Ascoli tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
A brace, and Don Bolsius takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Don Bolsius provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.54 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.39 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
7.83, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tommaso Milanese. 1‑0 against Pineto, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 and he is exactly the player he was at the turn of the year. That is fine at twenty-eight and it is the beginning of a difficult conversation at his age.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danko Ciobanu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thomas Clementi. 3‑1 against Pianese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Novara have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thomas Clementi 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.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francesco Galuppini and Ascoli agree another 2 years.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Ascoli close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 12 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
$14.0K was the most the club would pay and Pro Vercelli 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.
13 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. Karpaty have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Augusto Bando at his very best
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Mirko Cassano clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
“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.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ascoli have gone to Parma 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pro Vercelli have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Danko Ciobanu is on it.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal with NK Osijek is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Gabriele Candido is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The offer went to Pro Vercelli 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ascoli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danko Ciobanu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ascoli have done the hard part with Fiorentina, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Danko Ciobanu has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Ascoli asked and Cesena said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Francioli 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.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
$27.0K was the most the club would pay and Lecce 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.
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.
“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 Ascoli know it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Karpaty have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ascoli offered $210.0K; Cremonese 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 Francesco Galuppini 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. Cremonese have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at Ascoli 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.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
At 16 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ascoli offered $97.0K; Juve Stabia 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ascoli asked and Parma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I watch every Ascoli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pineto runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Gabriele Gori is somebody else's player now, and $800.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
In brief
The dugoutDanko Ciobanu asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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 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.
The deal with AS Roma is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Corradini 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. Atromitos have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Matteo Malafronte is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The deal with Mlada Boleslav is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ascoli offered $10.0K; Union Brescia 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.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Corradini 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.
Ascoli asked and Virtus Entella said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli 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 Ascoli, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with AS Roma; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Union Brescia 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.
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. Sassuolo have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at Ascoli 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.
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ascoli, another week without a signature from Matteo Bosi.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matteo Bosi is living that version at Ascoli, and it tends to show in the first month.
Ascoli and Juve Stabia have settled on $130.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Tommaso Milanese 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Pineto have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniele Ravelli. The answer from Ascoli has not changed — yet.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ascoli will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Ascoli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
Squad27 May 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Corradini 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 manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Danko Ciobanu is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danko Ciobanu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ascoli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Giovanni Corradini signs something — a contract at Ascoli or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Ascoli 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.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Tommaso Milanese 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 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.
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.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Francesco Galuppini 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 Giovanni Corradini 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 Ascoli know it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ascoli has been clear about where Nicholas Rizzo stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
“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 Ascoli, 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 Ascoli 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Ascoli 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ascoli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ascoli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 14 on 39 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Thomas Clementi did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Thomas Clementi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thomas Clementi. 1‑0 against Carpi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
0‑4 to Ravenna, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Alexandro Ravelli has, at Ascoli, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Napoli will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ivan Anić has pre-agreed a move to Ascoli, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danko Ciobanu, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Apr 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Mirko Cassano to a room that had heard them before.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ravenna in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Minute 94, against Forli, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Danko Ciobanu is on it.
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.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mirko Cassano after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gabriele Pagliai is on 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mirko Cassano after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Gabriele Pagliai’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Ascoli needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 Ascoli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Torres were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
8.19. 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.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Terranova 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Mirko Cassano could afford to be generous.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Tseluyko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mirko Cassano after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
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.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ascoli asked and Benevento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Something was said to Bruno Scandella and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gabriele Pagliai is on it.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ascoli asked and Campobasso said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Ascoli will try again when the window opens; Südtirol may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriele Pagliai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
Südtirol have accepted the money. What Ascoli do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
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 Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Transfer targetsA loan move for Niccolò Pierozzi is in the works
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ascoli have done the hard part with Arezzo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vadim Tseluyko has agreed terms with Renate for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Tommaso Milanese 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The deal with Südtirol is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ascoli.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Terranova 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Mirko Cassano could afford to be generous.
Something was said to Thomas Clementi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Tommaso Milanese decided nobody was going anywhere. Pianese had no time left to answer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ascoli have done the hard part with Juve Stabia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Empoli keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Empoli is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Add another name to the list: Pergolettese have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thomas Clementi. The answer from Ascoli has not changed — yet.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ascoli can tell you which week it ends in.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AC Milan have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriele Pagliai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mirko Cassano after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gabriele Pagliai is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Don Bolsius’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Ascoli needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mirko Cassano after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ascoli has been clear about where Pawan Parmigiani stands, which is more than many ever get.
At 17 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 17 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.
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ascoli.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mirko Cassano kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
SquadA Ascoli teenager takes the young player award
Francesco Galuppini 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 Gabriele Pagliai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Mirko Cassano to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Danko Ciobanu is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Perugia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luciano Guaycochea will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ascoli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
7.91, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ascoli can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Something was said to Bruno Scandella and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.79 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Up for the corner, and Manuel Alagna delivers — 7.97
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Manuel Alagna scored, was marked 7.97, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
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.
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.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Ascoli know now that the thought has arrived.
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 defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.98 for the rest of it.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mirko Cassano after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadWords at Ascoli training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
Marked 7.58. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mirko Cassano, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Something was said to Noah Moretti and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Tommaso Milanese 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
A 1‑0 win over Torres, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Abdoul Guiebré was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. 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.
“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 Ascoli 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriele Candido, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vadim Tseluyko 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 manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gabriele Candido is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Torres in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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 Ascoli, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ascoli can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
He is 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mattia Terranova commits to Ascoli for another 4 years.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mirko Cassano chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ascoli told Thomas Clementi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lorenzo Costoli is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
5 new faces, and Ascoli are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vadim Tseluyko 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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 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.
“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 Ascoli know it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mirko Cassano after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
The hardest thing about being 16 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Daniele Ravelli did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Galuppini 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.
He is 16 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” AlbinoLeffe had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ascoli asked and Carpi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“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.
The dugout17 Sep 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 Mirko Cassano left the room before anybody could ask which.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Tommaso Milanese 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ascoli people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Ascoli close the window on a squad of their own making
20 in and 14 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Tommaso Milanese 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 said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ascoli asked and Atalanta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ascoli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ascoli moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Mirko Cassano, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniele Pavone has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Position 2, 71 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ascoli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Ayoub Knoun is a Ascoli player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The shirt still fits. Fiera is back at Ascoli, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Ascoli asked and Sambenedettese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 15 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Giugliano waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Luciano Guaycochea has agreed terms with Modena for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
At 16 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Federico Gattoni 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.
Ascoli have gone to Genoa 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benevento have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ascoli have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Matteo Malafronte is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Federico Gattoni 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.
Ascoli asked and Cremonese 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 Gabriele Pagliai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Augusto Bando is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ascoli 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Latina have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Guidonia Montecelio waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Tommaso Milanese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Abdoul Guiebré has improved at 32, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sorrento have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ascoli people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everything was agreed with Genoa and then the doctor spoke. Ascoli have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Ascoli asked and Napoli said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Don Bolsius 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 listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Augusto Bando had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have shaken hands with Sorrento; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ascoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Federico Gattoni 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.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ascoli 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 Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ascoli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Francesco Galuppini 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.
Ascoli asked and Latina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli 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. Ascoli have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Juventus is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Diego Finotti has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Ascoli asked and Sorrento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadWords at Ascoli training over how hard people work
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ascoli have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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 offer from Empoli for Francesco Salvemini 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.
“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 Ascoli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Federico Gattoni 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.
“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; Ascoli are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Ascoli asked and Lazio 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 Gabriele Pagliai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Triestina for Rok Bržan 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ascoli can pretend not to have heard.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Diego Ftacla has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Federico Gattoni 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ravenna have kept their man, and Ascoli 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 Francesco Galuppini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.