Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ognjen Markovic will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mathis Lambourde 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Hellas Verona have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad28 Jun 2038
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from Palermo for Milan Hubocan 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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ognjen Markovic has agreed terms with Frosinone for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The phone has started ringing about Rémy Rémy again, and this time the name on the line is Cesena. Hellas Verona are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Rafik Belghali 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cristiano Martinelli has just signed for Hellas Verona, and for once the answer mattered.
Juventus will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Lloyd Kelly has pre-agreed a move to Hellas Verona, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Edoardo Sottini and Hellas Verona agree another 3 years.
A conversation is coming this week. Hellas Verona will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad14 Jun 2038
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muslim Nabiev 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 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.
“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 Hellas Verona, 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.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milan Hubocan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2038
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali 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 words a physio says slowly. 50 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A mark of 8.45 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9.84. 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.
At 20 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tobias Slotsager. 2‑0 against Cagliari, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
422 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
8 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Enzo Bellouti
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Rémy Rémy on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Inter.
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 22 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 75 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.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milan Hubocan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Tobias Slotsager scored, was marked 7.90, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Reggiana will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hellas Verona were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
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.
28 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jakob Kiilerich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Hellas Verona hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tobias Slotsager provided it, and the 9.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.40 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tobias Slotsager. 5‑3 against Udinese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Hellas Verona and Udinese, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
9.29. 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.
David Tebili 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.
In brief
Player ratingsAndrea Ballanti was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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.
Daniele Ghilardi had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Sassuolo were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.57 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moussa Touré will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Marked 9.39 — 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 words a physio says slowly. 123 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
11 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
133 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.06 — 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 words a physio says slowly. 141 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.19 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
8 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 148 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.
2‑5 against Juve Stabia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Moussa Touré 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.
7 goals in one match, Mathis Lambourde on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Juve Stabia.
The words a physio says slowly. 157 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.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.54 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milan Hubocan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Rafik Belghali 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
In brief
Player ratingsRémy Rémy was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The words a physio says slowly. 168 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
12 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.74 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
30 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Angelo Sorrentino did not need any: 8.31, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad25 Jan 2038
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniele Ghilardi provided it, and the 9.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Palermo tried to reorganise, Hellas Verona did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Stefano Maiorana provided it, and the 7.50 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.30 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Hellas Verona and AC Milan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.13 at 35, 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.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Hellas Verona hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.78 at 40, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Hellas Verona and Cagliari, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona 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.
5 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
7 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Pisa are out and Hellas Verona go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match9 Dec 2037
Valerio Testa wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Valerio Testa found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Pisa went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Angelo Sorrentino did not need any: 8.49, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.59 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tobias Slotsager and Hellas Verona agree another 3 years.
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.
11 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.83 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mathis Lambourde was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It finished 2‑1, and it was Daniele Ghilardi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Hellas Verona.
Squad30 Nov 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali 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.
6 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Rémy Rémy could not do
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.69 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 Hellas Verona 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.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.72 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings16 Nov 2037
David Tebili was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Valerio Testa obliged against Livorno. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Hellas Verona.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.49 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Daniele Ghilardi on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Frosinone.
Squad9 Nov 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yellu Santiago 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.54, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad2 Nov 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rémy Rémy 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 18 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ognjen Markovic provided it, and the 9.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hellas Verona know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
In brief
BoardroomThe Hellas Verona production line keeps running
MarketThe clock does Moussa Touré’s negotiating for him
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Hellas Verona and Como, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Genoa kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Hellas Verona will be asked about the last half hour all week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Squad12 Oct 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
309 appearances across 13 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Hellas Verona hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rafik Belghali and Hellas Verona agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
9.07. 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Lecce the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Hellas Verona will enjoy reviewing.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 39, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Lecce left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
8.82. 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.
Marked 8.21 — 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 words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Marked 8.93 — 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 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 words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Hellas Verona scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.39 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milan Hubocan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mathis Lambourde 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
9.41. 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2037
Rémy Rémy was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hellas Verona and Palermo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andrea Ballanti provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Hellas Verona and AC Milan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.
9.21. 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.
Squad31 Aug 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Belghali 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rémy Rémy 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 estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alfonso Parisi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Elia Colletti has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Romano Dalla Costa is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Mathis Lambourde 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 67 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Angelo Sorrentino is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
In brief
SquadRafik Belghali falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 76 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.
Mathis Lambourde 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 Aug 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Frese 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.
In brief
BoardroomHellas Verona release $10.4M for the manager
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Jul 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yellu Santiago 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.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Mathis Lambourde 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 words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
397 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Hellas Verona heard it as anything else.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 126 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 Hellas Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Valerio Battisti and Hellas Verona agree another 4 years.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Carlo Sanna is living that version at Hellas Verona, and it tends to show in the first month.
Modena will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Antonio Sabbatani has pre-agreed a move to Hellas Verona, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
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.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniele Ghilardi and Hellas Verona agree another 2 years.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Inter will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Leandro Ferrigno has pre-agreed a move to Hellas Verona, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
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. Hellas Verona will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Squad25 May 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede 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 words a physio says slowly. 94 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAntoine Bernede falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 101 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 particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rémy Rémy provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.33 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Antoine Bernede 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.
10.00. 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.
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona 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.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
11 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
5 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.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
23 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
At 39 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.23 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 Hellas Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Mathis Lambourde in the middle of it, and Juventus unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
In brief
SquadVíctor Vidal falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings13 Apr 2037
Rémy Rémy, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.51
A mark of 8.51 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
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.
Squad13 Apr 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Hellas Verona are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Enzo Bellouti at his very best
24 combined actions and 7.58. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Hellas Verona hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona 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.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Rémy Rémy was at the centre of it, Udinese were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.21 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Antoine Bernede 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.
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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.39 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 Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hellas Verona know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Sassuolo will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hellas Verona were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tobias Slotsager provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mathis Lambourde provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Squad16 Mar 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hellas Verona and Sassuolo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
Player ratingsDavid Tebili was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rafik Belghali and Hellas Verona agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Atalanta left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Mar 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tobias Slotsager 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.
12 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hellas Verona know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Two goals and a mark of 9.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hellas Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
29 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.55 at 39, and nobody on the pitch was better.
20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 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.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Flavio Paoletti has agreed terms with Fiorentina for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The shirt still fits. Alexandru Ionita is back at Hellas Verona, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Antoine Bernede 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hellas Verona know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yellu Santiago provided it, and the 9.44 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings9 Feb 2037
Rémy Rémy, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.63
A mark of 8.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
12 goals and a season average of 7.40 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad9 Feb 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Hellas Verona and Lazio, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona 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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Torino will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hellas Verona were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Hellas Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 34, 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.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces19 Jan 2037
The mood at Hellas Verona has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Two goals and a mark of 9.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Squad12 Jan 2037
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
8.67. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The goal that put AC Milan ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Hellas Verona equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
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 Hellas Verona have had the benefit of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Squad29 Dec 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede 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: Enzo Bellouti. 2‑1 against Bologna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings29 Dec 2036
Enzo Bellouti was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.43. 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.
12 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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 terraces22 Dec 2036
The mood at Hellas Verona has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona 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.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nicolò Tarantino did not need any: 8.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.40 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Antoine Bernede 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 21 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7 goals in one match, Radek Šiler on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Juventus.
Player ratings8 Dec 2036
Yellu Santiago was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.63. 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.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hellas Verona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rafik Belghali provided it, and the 10.00 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 Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Hellas Verona heard it as anything else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces24 Nov 2036
The mood at Hellas Verona has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Subotić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Nov 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Ghilardi 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.
9.06. 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.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona 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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Valerio Testa obliged against Mantova. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Hellas Verona.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tobias Slotsager provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Hellas Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.36 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 20 actions, 7.36, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Antoine Bernede 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ruslan Dragun will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 mood at Hellas Verona has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona 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.
Marked 9.13 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mathis Lambourde was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It finished 5‑4, and it was Rafik Belghali’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Hellas Verona.
Squad20 Oct 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede 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.
9 goals in one match, Rafik Belghali on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Cesena.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Oct 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Ghilardi 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 9.26 — 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.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.73 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
326 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ruslan Dragun will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Oct 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antoine Bernede 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.
6 goals in one match, David Tebili on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Inter.
8.92. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The mood at Hellas Verona has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.43 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Sep 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Ghilardi 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.
6 goals in one match, David Tebili on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Lazio.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Sandro Ferraro made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Antoine Bernede 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.
9 goals in one match, Tobias Slotsager on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hellas Verona and Napoli.
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Radek Šiler scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Torino, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad15 Sep 2036
Erdis Kraja falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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; Hellas Verona are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.58 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
269 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Antoine Bernede 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.
38 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsMathis Lambourde was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The mood at Hellas Verona has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
268 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hellas Verona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Hellas Verona heard it as anything 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 Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Sep 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Ghilardi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Some 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Erdis Kraja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hellas Verona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mathis Lambourde 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hellas Verona and AS Roma in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
11 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erdis Kraja 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Pescara will make the call about Radek Šiler this week. Hellas Verona have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Words at Hellas Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Ghilardi 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 words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Antoine Bernede 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
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 end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Interim Coach clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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 coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.