From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Nov 2030
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.
Market11 Nov 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
8 goals and a season average of 7.52 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad11 Nov 2030
The manager makes an example of Giacomo Fedel
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match9 Nov 2030
Mantova and Bari take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Market11 Nov 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Leonardo Mancuso’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Nov 2030
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match30 Oct 2030
The cup run ends for Mantova
0‑1 against Udinese, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market4 Nov 2030
“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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
Marked 9.18 — 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.
Match2 Nov 2030
Catanzaro made Mantova work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad4 Nov 2030
“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 ratings4 Nov 2030
A performance of 8.67 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Oct 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Daniele Celiento: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Mattia Zaramella 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.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
A performance of 9.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
A performance of 8.80 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Oct 2030
6 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad28 Oct 2030
David Wieser gets it from the manager
“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.
Boardroom28 Oct 2030
101% of the income goes out in wages at Mantova
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match26 Oct 2030
It needed Davide Bragantini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Cremonese, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Oct 2030
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market21 Oct 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market21 Oct 2030
Clement Zubah hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Oct 2030
A bad afternoon for Mantova against Modena
1‑3 to Modena, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Oct 2030
The manager makes an example of Ettore Gliozzi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
Marked 8.56 — 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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mantova know it.
Loan watch21 Oct 2030
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mantova, and 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Oct 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
A performance of 9.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match12 Oct 2030
Padova made Mantova work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
A performance of 8.95 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad14 Oct 2030
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Cristian Marai, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad14 Oct 2030
A season average of 7.30 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Ettore Gliozzi knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Oct 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leonardo Mancuso signs something — a contract at Mantova or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Oct 2030
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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Oct 2030
Reggiana left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
A performance of 8.69 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giacomo Fedel, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad7 Oct 2030
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Market7 Oct 2030
Experience through the door at Mantova
Johan Brunell arrives at 39 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Sep 2030
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market30 Sep 2030
“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.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Marked 8.95 — 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.
Squad30 Sep 2030
“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 ratings30 Sep 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Boardroom30 Sep 2030
88% of the income goes out in wages at Mantova
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Sep 2030
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.
Market23 Sep 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match21 Sep 2030
4 matches without a win for Mantova
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mantova are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Sep 2030
“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 ratings23 Sep 2030
Marked 8.20 — 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.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
Marked 8.02 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Sep 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad16 Sep 2030
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad16 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Sep 2030
0‑1 to Avellino, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad16 Sep 2030
53 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Shots: 14, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market16 Sep 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leonardo Mancuso signs something — a contract at Mantova or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Sep 2030
Davide Monti hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leonardo Mancuso and Mantova agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Mattia Zaramella 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.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Marked 8.84 — 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.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match7 Sep 2030
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The terraces9 Sep 2030
Everybody has an opinion about Ettore Gliozzi
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.
Squad9 Sep 2030
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Aug 2030
Nowhere to hide for Mantova
0‑4 against Carrarese, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The terraces2 Sep 2030
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market2 Sep 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leonardo Mancuso and Mantova agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“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.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Wages eat 85% of everything Mantova earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Leonardo Mancuso asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Aug 2030
Only the photograph left for Matteo Bassi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matteo Bassi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mantova the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Aug 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Aug 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market26 Aug 2030
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Martino Di Stefano is a Mantova player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market26 Aug 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Boardroom26 Aug 2030
Mantova board go back on their word
Something was promised, a deadline passed, and it did not arrive. Trust inside a football club is built over years and spent in an afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Aug 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Market19 Aug 2030
The fee is $160.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Arzignano drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad19 Aug 2030
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market19 Aug 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ettore Gliozzi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad19 Aug 2030
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Davide Bragantini keeps the shirt for now, at Mantova's convenience rather than his own.
Market19 Aug 2030
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Mantova could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Aug 2030
“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.
Squad12 Aug 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Aug 2030
“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.
Market12 Aug 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Slim Bouaskar has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Mantova know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Aug 2030
Samuele Spalluto: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Aug 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Jul 2030
Matteo Bassi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market29 Jul 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jul 2030
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mantova know it.
Squad29 Jul 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuele Spalluto, and the manager let it.
Market29 Jul 2030
The name of Davide Bragantini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Jul 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Leonardo Mancuso asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad22 Jul 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniele Celiento, and the manager let it.
Market22 Jul 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ettore Gliozzi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market22 Jul 2030
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Mantova could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Leonardo Mancuso: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market15 Jul 2030
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Mantova will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market15 Jul 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad15 Jul 2030
David Wieser knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Wieser trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Jul 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad8 Jul 2030
The medical room confirms 65 days on the sidelines for Michel Panatti, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yassin Banna and Mantova agree another 4 years.
Market8 Jul 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lukas Rosengren has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mantova.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Jul 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Jul 2030
Monopoli come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mantova did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad1 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market1 Jul 2030
Matteo Bassi is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mantova has been clear about where Matteo Bassi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad1 Jul 2030
The manager makes an example of David Wieser
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Jul 2030
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Mantova know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jun 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jun 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mantova may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market24 Jun 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Market24 Jun 2030
The phone has started ringing about Lukas Rosengren again, and this time the name on the line is Cavese. Mantova are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market24 Jun 2030
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ettore Gliozzi has his answer from Mantova; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jun 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maksym Vorobiey and Mantova agree another 4 years.
Market17 Jun 2030
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market17 Jun 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad17 Jun 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad17 Jun 2030
A new face in his position, and Simone Trimboli suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Mantova have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Jun 2030
93 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market10 Jun 2030
The paperwork is done: Maksym Vorobiey joins from Lumezzane in a deal worth $360.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jake Ghio commits to Mantova for another 3 years.
Loan watch3 Jun 2030
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mantova, and 11 appearances in 46 say he has earned the hearing.
Boardroom3 Jun 2030
85% of the income goes out in wages at Mantova
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market3 Jun 2030
The name of Davide Bragantini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 May 2030
“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.
Market27 May 2030
Only the photograph left for Enea Pitti
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Enea Pitti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mantova the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 May 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 May 2030
21 goals and a season average of 8.04. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match18 May 2030
Juve Stabia will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Mantova were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad20 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 May 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings20 May 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings20 May 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings20 May 2030
A performance of 9.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad20 May 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Wieser, and the manager let it.
Squad20 May 2030
Leonardo Mancuso asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 May 2030
A season average of 8.02 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad13 May 2030
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market13 May 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 May 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Match11 May 2030
It finished 2‑1, and it was Matteo Bassi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mantova.
Player ratings13 May 2030
A performance of 8.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings13 May 2030
A performance of 8.56 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad13 May 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to William Abbriano, and the manager let it.
Market13 May 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mantova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 May 2030
A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad6 May 2030
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Sebastiano Nava knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Loan watch6 May 2030
“I watch every Mantova game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pineto runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Boardroom6 May 2030
Wages eat 90% of everything Mantova earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match4 May 2030
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad6 May 2030
César Falletti knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings6 May 2030
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings6 May 2030
Shots: 9, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Apr 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Apr 2030
Enea Pitti has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Simone Trimboli 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 Apr 2030
“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.
Match27 Apr 2030
Reggiana left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Apr 2030
50 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Apr 2030
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad22 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Apr 2030
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Marked 8.32 — 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.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Wieser, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market22 Apr 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Apr 2030
A season average of 8.05 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market15 Apr 2030
Matteo Bassi hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Apr 2030
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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Match13 Apr 2030
It finished 4‑3, and it was Ettore Gliozzi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mantova.
Player ratings15 Apr 2030
Marked 9.73 — 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.
Player ratings15 Apr 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad15 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Pace, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Apr 2030
Marked 8.28 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Apr 2030
A season average of 8.01 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market8 Apr 2030
Federico Pace has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
Marked 8.61 — 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.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
Marked 8.41 — 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.
Squad8 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giacomo Fedel, and the manager let it.
Loan watch8 Apr 2030
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mantova and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 38 matches say the rest.
Match6 Apr 2030
A 2‑2 draw with Südtirol leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
Wages eat 86% of everything Mantova earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Apr 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
17 goals and a season average of 8.00 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market1 Apr 2030
Enea Pitti has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Match30 Mar 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davide Bragantini. 3‑2 against Virtus Entella, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
A performance of 9.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Apr 2030
The medical room confirms 79 days on the sidelines for Andrea Seculin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.36, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Mar 2030
The wait goes on for Mantova
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad25 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ettore Gliozzi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.63, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match23 Mar 2030
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market25 Mar 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Mar 2030
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market18 Mar 2030
Matteo Bassi hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Mar 2030
David Wieser: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match16 Mar 2030
7 matches without a win for Mantova
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Mantova are no longer polite ones.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” David Wieser commits to Mantova for another 4 years.
Match16 Mar 2030
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings18 Mar 2030
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market18 Mar 2030
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Mantova money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Mar 2030
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.
Market11 Mar 2030
Federico Pace has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market11 Mar 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match9 Mar 2030
The wait goes on for Mantova
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad11 Mar 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Davide Bragantini and Mantova agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Federico Pace 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.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad11 Mar 2030
The manager makes an example of César Falletti
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch11 Mar 2030
“I watch every Mantova game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pineto runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Mar 2030
A season average of 8.00 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad4 Mar 2030
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.
Match2 Mar 2030
No end in sight to Mantova's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mantova has to find a result from somewhere.
Market4 Mar 2030
Enea Pitti has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Mar 2030
“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.
Match2 Mar 2030
Honours even between Mantova and Monza
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Feb 2030
4 matches without a win for Mantova
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mantova are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
Marked 8.77 — 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
“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 ratings25 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match23 Feb 2030
It needed Ettore Gliozzi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Pescara, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
4.92 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Market25 Feb 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad25 Feb 2030
At 37 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Mantova have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Feb 2030
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Match16 Feb 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Feb 2030
The manager makes an example of David Wieser
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Market18 Feb 2030
The clock does Federico Pace’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Mantova could ask drops and the wages Federico Pace can ask rise.
Squad18 Feb 2030
César Falletti knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and César Falletti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Feb 2030
Federico Pace has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market11 Feb 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniele Celiento, and the manager let it.
Match9 Feb 2030
0‑1 to Frosinone, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad11 Feb 2030
11 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolò Perissinotto and Mantova agree another 3 years.
Loan watch11 Feb 2030
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mantova, and 9 appearances in 30 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Feb 2030
A season average of 8.05 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market4 Feb 2030
Enea Pitti has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market4 Feb 2030
Tommaso Marras has left for Atalanta in a $1.7M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Leonardo Mancuso commits to Mantova for another 2 years.
Market4 Feb 2030
The chase for Nicolò Perissinotto ended with $340.0K changing hands and Venezia out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad4 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Feb 2030
A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match2 Feb 2030
Avellino left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market4 Feb 2030
Pisa pay $360.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jan 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
15 goals and a season average of 8.00 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad28 Jan 2030
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market28 Jan 2030
The paperwork is done: Flavio Ferrari joins from Bologna in a deal worth $790.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Simone Trimboli 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.
Market28 Jan 2030
Atalanta are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mantova will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Jan 2030
Three points for Mantova, 2‑1 the final word against Sassuolo in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Jan 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Jan 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
14 goals and a season average of 7.95 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad21 Jan 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad21 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
Marked 9.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match19 Jan 2030
A bad afternoon for Mantova against Bari
1‑2 to Bari, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Jan 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonardo Mancuso, and the manager let it.
The terraces21 Jan 2030
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jan 2030
A season average of 7.92 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market14 Jan 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match12 Jan 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davide Bragantini. 3‑2 against Catanzaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Marked 8.68 — 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.
Squad14 Jan 2030
“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.
Market14 Jan 2030
Cosenza are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mantova will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad14 Jan 2030
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Sebastiano Nava knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jan 2030
The bid was some way short and Mantova did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Jan 2030
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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
A season average of 7.85 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad7 Jan 2030
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 Mantova have had the benefit of it.
Market7 Jan 2030
“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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market7 Jan 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
Marked 9.11 — 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.
Loan watch7 Jan 2030
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mantova and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Dec 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Federico Pace
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match29 Dec 2029
Modena left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Marked 8.08 — 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.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Shots: 14, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market31 Dec 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mantova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad31 Dec 2029
David Wieser knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad24 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniele Celiento, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Dec 2029
7 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.80 on the card, and the Mantova support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match22 Dec 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Padova defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market24 Dec 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Leonardo Mancuso’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Dec 2029
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.
Market17 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Dec 2029
A season average of 7.83 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Match15 Dec 2029
It finished 3‑1, and it was Federico Accornero’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mantova.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
A performance of 9.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Dec 2029
“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 ratings17 Dec 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Dec 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad10 Dec 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
9 goals and a season average of 7.78 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match8 Dec 2029
No end in sight to Mantova's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mantova has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad10 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Dec 2029
Palermo left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Loan watch10 Dec 2029
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mantova and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market10 Dec 2029
The name of Davide Bragantini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Dec 2029
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Marked 8.69 — 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Sebastiano Nava
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Marked 8.34 — 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.
Match1 Dec 2029
It needed Federico Accornero to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Hellas Verona, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad3 Dec 2029
A season average of 7.22 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Ettore Gliozzi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ettore Gliozzi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The terraces3 Dec 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Sebastiano Nava
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.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Nov 2029
41 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Federico Pace 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Federico Pace
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.38 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 2 saves does not settle it either way.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Nov 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market19 Nov 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
“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.
Match17 Nov 2029
Virtus Entella left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad19 Nov 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Flavio Paoletti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Nov 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ettore Gliozzi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Nov 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
9 goals and a season average of 7.75 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad12 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match10 Nov 2029
A 3‑2 win over Carrarese, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Loan watch12 Nov 2029
“I watch every Mantova game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pineto runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad12 Nov 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.84 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2029
Mantova bow out of the cup
Ternana go through and Mantova go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match3 Nov 2029
No end in sight to Mantova's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mantova has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad5 Nov 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mantova may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
8 goals and a season average of 7.65 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad5 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match3 Nov 2029
Beaten 3‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.36, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Oct 2029
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.
Match27 Oct 2029
The wait goes on for Mantova
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad29 Oct 2029
69 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad29 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Oct 2029
7 goals and a season average of 7.54. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
A performance of 9.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match27 Oct 2029
It needed Davide Bragantini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Juventus, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market29 Oct 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Leonardo Mancuso’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Marked 5.21, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Oct 2029
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market22 Oct 2029
“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.
Match20 Oct 2029
The wait goes on for Mantova
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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“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.
Match20 Oct 2029
Honours even between Mantova and Monza
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Leonardo Mancuso asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Oct 2029
Davide Monti hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Federico Pace 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.
Match13 Oct 2029
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A season average of 7.47 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad15 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Federico Pace
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch15 Oct 2029
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mantova and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jake Durrant and Mantova agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Oct 2029
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.
Market8 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match6 Oct 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Oct 2029
A season average of 7.39 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Mantova needed to.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Oct 2029
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market1 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Oct 2029
The medical room confirms 100 days on the sidelines for Ettore Gliozzi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad1 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.95, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad1 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Tommaso Marras
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Marked 8.19 — 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.
Match29 Sep 2029
It needed Davide Bragantini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 4‑4 against Frosinone, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Sep 2029
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Pietro Baccelli: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match19 Sep 2029
Mantova march on in the cup
Lecco are out and Mantova go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mantova may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Sep 2029
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.
Market24 Sep 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Match22 Sep 2029
Avellino made Mantova work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Marked 9.04 — 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.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.94 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Sep 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad17 Sep 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Sep 2029
Sassuolo left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davide Bragantini, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Marked 8.81 — 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.
Loan watch17 Sep 2029
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mantova and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Sep 2029
Bari will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Mantova were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market10 Sep 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.74, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Marked 8.62 — 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.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Federico Pace asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad10 Sep 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Sep 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market3 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match1 Sep 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Giovanni Bonfanti. 4‑3 against Catanzaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Ettore Gliozzi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ettore Gliozzi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Aug 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mantova may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market27 Aug 2029
Enea Pitti hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Market27 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Market27 Aug 2029
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market27 Aug 2029
The shirt still fits. Gianluca Ranieri is back at Mantova, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Aug 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch20 Aug 2029
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mantova and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Market20 Aug 2029
Avellino are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mantova will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market20 Aug 2029
The name of Davide Bragantini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Flavio Paoletti asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Tommaso Marras asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market13 Aug 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mantova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market13 Aug 2029
Mantova have let the market know Daniele Celiento can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Somebody else's move, somebody else's headline. What it left at Mantova is an empty peg and a footballer who keeps glancing at it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Aug 2029
“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.
Market6 Aug 2029
Cittadella come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mantova did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad6 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Jul 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Jul 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Jul 2029
The name of Federico Accornero has come up in conversations Mantova were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad23 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Federico Pace knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Federico Pace trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad23 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Alex Rolfini
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market23 Jul 2029
Mantova have let the market know César Falletti can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Jul 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Simone Trimboli 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mantova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad16 Jul 2029
A wage question at Mantova
Leonardo Stanzani has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Market16 Jul 2029
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ludovico Baruzzi Ungari leaves Mantova the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
Mantova keep producing them
15 graduates from an academy now rated 7 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leonardo Mancuso and Mantova agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Jul 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leonardo Mancuso and Mantova agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Simone Trimboli 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.
Market2 Jul 2029
Modena paid $670.0K and Mantova took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market2 Jul 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Mantova will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad2 Jul 2029
César Falletti asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market25 Jun 2029
Add another name to the list: Picerno have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Yassin Banna. The answer from Mantova has not changed — yet.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mantova know it.
Squad25 Jun 2029
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Mantova know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Jun 2029
The chase for William Abbriano ended with $280.0K changing hands and Salernitana out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Market18 Jun 2029
Everyone has stopped pretending: Cosenza will make the call about Francesco Salvemini this week. Mantova have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stefano Mazzini commits to Mantova for another 2 years.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Ettore Gliozzi knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jun 2029
$8.6M from AS Roma for Antonio Fiori. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Market11 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Samuele Spalluto: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market11 Jun 2029
The chase for Stefano Mazzini ended with $1.0M changing hands and Juve Stabia out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Federico Pace 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Antonio Fiori 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.
Market4 Jun 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mantova have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Wages eat 91% of everything Mantova earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 May 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 May 2029
Antonio Fiori 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.
Market28 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 May 2029
Leonardo Mancuso asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market28 May 2029
The name of Ettore Gliozzi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.
Market28 May 2029
Mantova have let the market know Antonio Fiori can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 May 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2029
Enea Pitti gets it from the manager
“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.
Market21 May 2029
The name of Leonardo Mancuso keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.
Market21 May 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Francesco Salvemini may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad21 May 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
-
Boardroom
The Mantova production line keeps running
-
Squad
The manager plants his flag on Antonio Fiori
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 May 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 May 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
18 goals and a season average of 7.65 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad14 May 2029
Antonio Fiori 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.
Player ratings14 May 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 May 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Cremonese leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad14 May 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad14 May 2029
César Falletti knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and César Falletti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market14 May 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simone Trimboli signs something — a contract at Mantova or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 May 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 May 2029
A season average of 7.62 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces7 May 2029
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 26 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad7 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Marked 9.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad7 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Pace, and the manager let it.
Market7 May 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mantova, another week without a signature from Federico Pace.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Antonio Fiori is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.80 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Market30 Apr 2029
Yassin Banna has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match28 Apr 2029
A 3‑1 win over Padova, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.64 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.46, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Apr 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match21 Apr 2029
6 matches without a win for Mantova
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Mantova are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A season average of 7.59 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad23 Apr 2029
César Falletti 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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simone Trimboli, and the manager let it.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Marked 8.75 — 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mantova know it.
Match21 Apr 2029
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Apr 2029
“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.
Match14 Apr 2029
The wait goes on for Mantova
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Giacomo Fedel
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
A mark of 7.74, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Apr 2029
“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.
Match7 Apr 2029
The wait goes on for Mantova
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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match7 Apr 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Frosinone leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Apr 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Apr 2029
14 goals and a season average of 7.57. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Market2 Apr 2029
Yassin Banna has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match31 Mar 2029
Südtirol left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Mantova will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Antonio Fiori
7 goals and a season average of 7.74 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad26 Mar 2029
César Falletti 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.
Match24 Mar 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Marked 8.19 — 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gioele Zacchi knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
13 goals and a season average of 7.54 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ettore Gliozzi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.76, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
A performance of 8.77 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match17 Mar 2029
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad12 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Mar 2029
Three points for Mantova, 3‑2 the final word against Cesena in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.51, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Marked 8.17 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
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.
The terraces5 Mar 2029
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 26 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simone Trimboli and Mantova agree another 4 years.
Market5 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“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.
Match3 Mar 2029
A bad afternoon for Mantova against Empoli
0‑2 to Empoli, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Feb 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Antonio Fiori
7 goals and a season average of 7.69 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Feb 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Federico Artioli. 3‑2 against Modena, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Niccolò Ronchi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad26 Feb 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gioele Zacchi knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Feb 2029
The wait goes on for Mantova
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market19 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Samuele Spalluto: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Feb 2029
13 goals and a season average of 7.58. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Antonio Fiori 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.
Match17 Feb 2029
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Marked 8.92 — 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.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.82, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 Feb 2029
The wait goes on for Mantova
7 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
A season average of 7.55 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad12 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Feb 2029
Ettore Gliozzi scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Sampdoria, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
A performance of 9.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“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.
Market12 Feb 2029
He is 19, and nobody at Mantova signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Feb 2029
Luca Sonzogni hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Feb 2029
César Falletti: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match3 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Mantova's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mantova has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market5 Feb 2029
Only the photograph left for Yassin Banna
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yassin Banna will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mantova the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Giacomo Fedel 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Antonio Fiori asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match3 Feb 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Palermo leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Yassin Banna: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match27 Jan 2029
5 matches without a win for Mantova
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Mantova are no longer polite ones.
Squad29 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Antonio Fiori
6 goals and a season average of 7.63 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market29 Jan 2029
Juve Stabia are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mantova will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ettore Gliozzi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Marked 8.84 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A season average of 7.52 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match20 Jan 2029
The wait goes on for Mantova
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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Davide Bragantini 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.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A performance of 9.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A performance of 9.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luca Sonzogni, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Luca Sonzogni knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Jan 2029
“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.
Market15 Jan 2029
The fee is $190.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Salernitana drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A season average of 7.47 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Flavio Paoletti and Mantova agree another 4 years.
Squad15 Jan 2029
César Falletti 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
Add another name to the list: Dolomiti Bellunesi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Yassin Banna. The answer from Mantova has not changed — yet.
Match13 Jan 2029
Mantova come up short against Bari
Bari left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Wieser, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Jan 2029
$5.8M from Lazio for Nicolò Radaelli. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Market8 Jan 2029
Luca Sonzogni hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Jan 2029
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.
Market8 Jan 2029
Mantova say no — this time
The offer from Frosinone for Luca Sonzogni 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Antonio Fiori 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
Salernitana pay $120.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Antonio Fiori
5 goals and a season average of 7.57 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Marked 9.18 — 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Falletti, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market1 Jan 2029
“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 Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Jan 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Gioele Zacchi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ettore Gliozzi, and the manager let it.
Match30 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mantova know it.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Dec 2028
Mantova cannot stop winning
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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Leonardo Mancuso 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 Dec 2028
30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match23 Dec 2028
Juve Stabia made Mantova work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Marked 8.92 — 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.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Dec 2028
4 goals and a season average of 7.53. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Dec 2028
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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Samuele Spalluto: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mantova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Dec 2028
Still nobody has beaten Mantova
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
10 goals and a season average of 7.48 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match16 Dec 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francesco Salvemini. 2‑1 against Padova, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Marked 8.01 — 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.