Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Padova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Padova can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Mattia Bortolussi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Minute 96, against Genoa, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Padova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alessandro Pentima is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Padova have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
Nobody at Padova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Padova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 The request is on a desk at Padova, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with Atalanta; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The fee is $480.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Bologna drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Padova have gone to Lumezzane with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Padova asked and Napoli said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emanuele Zuelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Real Sociedad have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Giovanni Gabriele Garofani has moved up it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matteo Lovato signs something — a contract at Padova or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Padova will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Everything agreed with Cittadella, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Padova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mattia Bortolussi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Padova go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Di Mariano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Padova will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Trapani paid $330.0K and Padova took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pentima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Orazio D'Angelo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The fee is $810.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Benevento drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Pentima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Padova will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad12 Jul 2027
7 new faces, and Padova are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Padova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Padova, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chase for Mattia Pagliuca ended with $410.0K changing hands and Virtus Verona out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
16 games, 1 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Padova now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Everything agreed with Benevento, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kevin Varas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Padova the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer went to Novara this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Mattia Bortolussi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Gubbio waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Padova is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Padova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Luca Di Maggio is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Padova have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Padova can pretend not to have heard.
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 Padova have had the benefit of it.
The offer went to Novara this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
27 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
Padova offered $87.0K; Lecce said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Elijah Scott
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Elijah Scott has come out of that comparison in the side, and Padova have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matteo Lovato signs something — a contract at Padova or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Position 3, 76 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Padova can pretend not to have heard.
Mattia Bortolussi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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.
Nobody at Padova will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Padova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alessio Melis has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gregorio Tombesi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ignazio Rossetti has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ruggero Fiorini has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Caprari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Emanuele Zuelli is on it.
In brief
The dugoutKevin Lasagna knocks on the manager’s door
Position 3 on 76 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Romano Costa could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutPietro Viani knocks on the manager’s door
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Caprari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Kevin Lasagna.
“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 Padova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mattia Bortolussi 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 5 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Caprari is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Padova are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Caprari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Mattia Bortolussi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francesco Di Mariano. 1‑0 against Empoli, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Lorenzo Carissoni.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.32 — 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Romano Costa kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Di Mariano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Romano Costa was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Padova dressing room was either.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Mattia Bortolussi 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Padova can pretend not to have heard.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Luca Di Maggio has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gabriele Artistico. 1‑0 against Spezia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Caprari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Padova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“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 Padova know it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Padova told Paolo Ghiglione something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Two goals and a mark of 8.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.40. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Padova.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Di Mariano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Mattia Bortolussi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 1‑0 win over Virtus Entella, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.42, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Romano Costa kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Padova will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Kevin Varas
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mattia Bortolussi provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Padova can pretend not to have heard.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.08 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kevin Varas had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Padova until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Carlo Donati is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martino Colletti has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bruno Bruni has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Padova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Padova asked and Olimpija Ljubljana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Padova lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Mattia Bortolussi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Romano Costa after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Cristian Buonaiuto has his answer from Padova; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Trapani waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Padova is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Padova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“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 Padova know it.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Padova lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Sampdoria will replay every second of the added time for a week.
“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 Padova, and it is not being withdrawn.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Padova will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francesco Di Mariano. 1‑0 against Sampdoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Position 4, 36 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Padova lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Romano Costa after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The words a physio says slowly. 52 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Mattia Bortolussi 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Lazio go through and Padova 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.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Moro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 69 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Mattia Bortolussi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastiano Previato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.44 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Di Mariano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Marco Pompetti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Moro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Carlo Faedo
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Marco Pompetti and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Moro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Padova lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Catanzaro are out and Padova go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match4 Nov 2026
Luca Di Maggio wins it after the whistle should have gone
100 minutes played. Luca Di Maggio found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Catanzaro went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luca Di Maggio did not need any: 8.30, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Luca Di Maggio has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 111 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
90 minutes played. Alejandro Gómez found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Reggiana went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
7.37, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Matteo Lovato was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Moro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alejandro Gómez. 2‑1 against Reggiana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Pietro Viani has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Padova lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Padova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marco Pompetti 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 Oct 2026
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Moro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match24 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Padova. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mattia Bortolussi. 1‑0 against Spezia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Padova can pretend not to have heard.
Marco Pompetti and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“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 Padova know it.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
138 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mattia Bortolussi. 1‑0 against Mantova, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8.47. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
148 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.77 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Moro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a 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.
In brief
Player ratingsGabriele Artistico was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Squad14 new faces, and Padova are still learning each other
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Salvatore Burrai
156 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Padova lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Marco Pompetti 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.
A 1‑0 win over Carrarese, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Di Mariano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 7.88. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Romano Costa kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutLuca Moro asks for a word with the manager
Marco Pompetti and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Moro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 93, against Cesena, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Moro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Padova asked and PAOK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Juve Stabia scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
It needed Mattia Bortolussi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Juve Stabia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Romano Costa after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
That is the business done at Padova until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Gianluca Caprari is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Romano Costa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Wigan Athletic is saying, and nobody at Padova is enjoying the guessing.
Gianluca Caprari and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Luca Moro falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
$1.5M on the table at Sassuolo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sporting CP is saying, and nobody at Padova is enjoying the guessing.
Gianluca Caprari was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Padova have made the call to Wigan Athletic. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
Pescara next, and one man in the Padova dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Manchester City have kept their man, and Padova go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Di Mariano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Padova, another week without a signature from Mattia Bortolussi.
Gianluca Caprari and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Forli paid $610.0K and Padova took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Moro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ciro Casella has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gabriele Casella has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Padova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Caprari is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.