“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
1-4 to Ascoli, 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. David Spinelli knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
A 2-1 win over Guidonia Montecelio, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A new face in his position, and Alessio Di Massimo suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Gubbio have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Valentino Alberti is back at Gubbio, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Luigi D'Alessio is 19, and Gubbio have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Francesco Zallu plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
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.
A new face in his position, and Nicola Murru suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Gubbio have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 21, Amoako Minta is already the best thing here
An average of 7.19 in a first team he is several years too young for. Gubbio have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Diogo Ferreira is 20, and Gubbio have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 May 2027
At 21, Amoako Minta is already the best thing here
An average of 7.19 in a first team he is several years too young for. Gubbio have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Federico Carraro will call it something else in private.
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.
A 1-0 win over Sambenedettese, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Gubbio pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Gubbio pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nicola Bagnolini knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Diego Tavares is 20, and Gubbio have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
A season average of 7.17 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Gubbio know what they have, and so, by now, does 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 Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
Ibrahima Papa Wade is 20, and Gubbio have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Mike van Duinen will call it something else in private.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Ternana defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gubbio know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A season average of 7.15 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Gubbio know what they have, and so, by now, does 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 Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gubbio know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gubbio can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“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 terraces25 Jan 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Nicola Murru
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Gubbio would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gubbio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Campobasso defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Hellas Verona go through and Gubbio go home, 0-3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 26 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
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 window away with the national side, and a shirt at Gubbio that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gubbio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Andrea La Mantia suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Gubbio have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
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.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Valerio Conti, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
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.
Flavio Bruni is 15, and Gubbio have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Gianluca Gamberini is 16, and Gubbio have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Leonardo Baroncelli plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Mike van Duinen arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.