There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.09 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom2 Feb 2032
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Salernitana 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.
Luca Villa 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 Mikel Amondarain was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Palermo have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Sorrento will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Salernitana were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brayan Aragón will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Salernitana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 The request is on a desk at Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.56 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
13 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikel Amondarain 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Giugliano waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Salernitana is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pescara have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Gabriele Semeraro was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikel Amondarain 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cagliari have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Position 8, 30 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Salernitana have done the hard part with Cagliari, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Luca Villa 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.
The name of Riccardo Ruggiero has come up in conversations Salernitana were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings5 Jan 2032
Andrea Bonetti was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.43. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brayan Aragón will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Salernitana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Salernitana can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Something was said to Mattia Vitale and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Roberto Canali to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
SquadDefences have started doubling up on Andrea Bonetti
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.22 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A performance of 9.91 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikel Amondarain 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Riccardo Ruggiero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Salernitana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Luca Villa 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 Mattia Vitale was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
12 goals and a season average of 7.22 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Roberto Canali left the room before anybody could ask which.
0‑3 to Catania, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Luca Villa 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout8 Dec 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Roberto Canali to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 90% of everything Salernitana earn
Two goals and a mark of 9.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brayan Aragón will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Salernitana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
1 for Mikel Amondarain, marked 7.94, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
7 goals in one match, Niccolò Corti on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Salernitana and Latina.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Vitale 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dusan Djuricic and Salernitana agree another 4 years.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Salernitana has been clear about where Jonathan Yegros stands, which is more than many ever get.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Salernitana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luca Villa 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.87 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Brayan Aragón has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Mattia Vitale was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 goals in one match, Andrea Bonetti on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Salernitana and Audace Cerignola.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrea Bonetti. 4‑2 against Audace Cerignola, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Salernitana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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 Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Sorrentino 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 Vitale and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Niccolò Corti has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Nobody at Salernitana 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mikel Amondarain signs something — a contract at Salernitana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salernitana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Salernitana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mattia Vitale 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Salernitana and Foggia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salernitana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Mattia Vitale 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.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Sorrentino is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Salernitana did not have in the autumn.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
Match27 Sep 2031
Kees de Boer wins it after the whistle should have gone
94 minutes played. Kees de Boer found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Giugliano went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Two goals and a mark of 8.29 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 Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Sep 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Salernitana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mattia Vitale 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.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniele Sorrentino 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.
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Sorrento will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Two goals and a mark of 9.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Mattia Vitale 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
Kees de Boer was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
63 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings8 Sep 2031
A brace, and Niccolò Corti takes the afternoon — 8.91
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Niccolò Corti provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7.95, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dusan Djuricic is living that version at Salernitana, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cagliari have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
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.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Salernitana close the window on a squad of their own making
19 in and 11 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Padova have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana 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 Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Riccardo Ruggiero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Salernitana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
Mattia Vitale 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.
Boardroom25 Aug 2031
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Salernitana
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Marlon García has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Palermo have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Salernitana have done the hard part with AS Roma, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Riccardo Palombi is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Mattia Vitale 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Salernitana asked and Modena said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 94 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Arzignano waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Salernitana is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Salernitana asked and Cagliari said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Redouane Moussati has just signed for Salernitana, and for once the answer mattered.
The deal with Campobasso is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Filip Zápotočný is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Salernitana asked and Pescara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Petros Movsisyan has agreed terms with Venezia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Mattia Vitale 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.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
At 28 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lazio have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Mattia Vitale was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Riccardo Palombi is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Aimar Blanco has, at Salernitana, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Something was said to Mihai Bordeianu and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The words a physio says slowly. 124 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 Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
Salernitana had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Udinese, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
At 30 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.
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal with Udinese is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Avellino have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 words a physio says slowly. 139 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Sousa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Salernitana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Mattia Vitale 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 Jun 2031
Luca Villa 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.
Salernitana asked and Guidonia Montecelio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Noud van Deijl has his answer from Salernitana; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Salernitana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Empoli is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Luca Villa 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.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
Salernitana asked and Zurich said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Salernitana 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.
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Salernitana have done the hard part with Como, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Filip Zápotočný has, at Salernitana, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
Juve Stabia will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Tiziano Cipriani has pre-agreed a move to Salernitana, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriele Semeraro and Salernitana agree another 4 years.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Niccolò Corti
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Villa 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pro Vercelli have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Salernitana have made the call to Mattersburg. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Davide Lendel is in the works
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mihai Bordeianu 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.
Salernitana asked and Spezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Salernitana will try not to make too much of it.
Salernitana have made the call to Zurich. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Luca Villa has come out of that comparison in the side, and Salernitana have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Antonio Donnarumma 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Riccardo Ruggiero and Salernitana agree another 4 years.
“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 Salernitana know it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nicolas Accoroni is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kees de Boer signs something — a contract at Salernitana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 4, 69 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Mattia Vitale and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 May 2031
Luca Villa 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Altamura scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Salernitana can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Antonio Donnarumma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 May 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
“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 Salernitana know it.
Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Salernitana.
Boardroom12 May 2031
90% of the income goes out in wages at Salernitana
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.
Nobody at Salernitana 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.
Casarano will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Salernitana were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Riccardo Ruggiero did not need any: 8.10, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Salernitana had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Salernitana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Mattia Vitale 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 Villa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Salernitana, another week without a signature from Mikel Amondarain.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Roberto Canali left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
Antonio Donnarumma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
“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 Salernitana know it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Mihai Bordeianu will call it something else in private.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Roberto Canali, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Crotone the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Salernitana will enjoy reviewing.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Antonio Donnarumma was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Salernitana and Siracusa, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marked 9.61. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Salernitana.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Salernitana and Audace Cerignola, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
13 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Luca Villa 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.
“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 Salernitana know it.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Roberto Canali left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Salernitana know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Umberto Lombardo 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. Carlo Baldini 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Michele Catalano 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Achille Greco is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mihai Bordeianu and Salernitana agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Salernitana told Brayan Aragón something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Víctor Saya has just signed for Salernitana, and for once the answer mattered.
Antonio Donnarumma 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout3 Mar 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Roberto Canali to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Feb 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikel Amondarain 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 not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
12 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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 8.67 — 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.
Marked 8.35 — 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.
Giugliano will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Salernitana were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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 8.17 — 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.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Roberto Canali could afford to be generous.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Salernitana close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Antonio Donnarumma 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 Villa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Daniele Sorrentino in the middle of it, and Cavese unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
A season average of 7.28 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings3 Feb 2031
Ismail Achik was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Salernitana had all but put away. Sorrento will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“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.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Kees de Boer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Salernitana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
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 7.96 for the rest of it.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Kees de Boer 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.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Half the programme played, position 4, 42 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
7.72, 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.
Antonio Donnarumma 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Salernitana asked and Cesena said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kees de Boer. 2‑1 against Altamura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Salernitana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Antonio Donnarumma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Roberto Canali to a room that had heard them before.
A 0‑3 beating by Benevento was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match14 Dec 2030
After 10 games, Salernitana finally taste it again
The first defeat in 10 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Benevento; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
7 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Roberto Canali to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
BoardroomThe numbers do not look good at Salernitana
The dugoutMattia Vitale knocks on the manager’s door
A brace, and Kees de Boer takes the afternoon — 8.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kees de Boer provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match7 Dec 2030
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Salernitana. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kees de Boer. 3‑2 against Catania, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Salernitana will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.49 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mikel Amondarain scored, was marked 7.65, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Crotone will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
Niccolò Corti was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 40. 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.
Antonio Donnarumma and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Salernitana can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 Antonio Donnarumma is on it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Joan Chávez has his answer from Salernitana; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Audace Cerignola will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Salernitana were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Salernitana did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Villa 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 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Salernitana.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Luca Villa was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. 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.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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 Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I 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 Salernitana know it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Noud van Deijl and Salernitana agree another 3 years.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Antonio Donnarumma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Luca Villa 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.
Nobody at Salernitana 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luca Villa signs something — a contract at Salernitana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Salernitana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Salernitana will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marlon García and Salernitana agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Luca Villa 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.
“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
Ismail Achik was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. 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.
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 Antonio Donnarumma is on it.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Roberto Canali chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.27 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Salernitana have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.24 — 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
BoardroomThe numbers do not look good at Salernitana
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Noud van Deijl
The words a physio says slowly. 43 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.14 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Antonio Donnarumma 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Salernitana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Antonio Donnarumma 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.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.42 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Salernitana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.76 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daniele Sorrentino. 3‑1 against Sorrento, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Matei Topa has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Antonio Donnarumma and Salernitana agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Antonio Donnarumma was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Laïd Chahine Bellaouel has just signed for Salernitana, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cesena have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Niccolò Corti. 1‑0 against Monopoli, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salernitana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match31 Aug 2030
Kees de Boer wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Kees de Boer found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Picerno went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.47, and nobody on the pitch better.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 22 gone
That is the business done at Salernitana 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.
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.
Luca Villa 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salernitana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Salernitana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Salernitana moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Roberto Canali, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Everything agreed with Fiorentina, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
At 17 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.
Boardroom26 Aug 2030
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Salernitana
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
Jonathan Yegros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
Salernitana asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 17, and nobody at Salernitana signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
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 Gianluca Longobardi is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mattia Vitale signs something — a contract at Salernitana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salernitana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Salernitana have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Luca Villa 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Raffaele Ferrara 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. Matteo Ravelli 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gianmarco Cecconi 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salernitana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gianluca Longobardi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Salernitana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrea Bonetti and Salernitana agree another 4 years.
Luca Villa 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marlon García has just signed for Salernitana, and for once the answer mattered.
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 Antonio Donnarumma is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Salernitana know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Salernitana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Siracusa for Luigi Gabriel Barba 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.
At 18 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.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
Salernitana asked and Juve Stabia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Salernitana have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Como for Eugenio D'Ursi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana 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. Cremonese have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Niccolò Corti
The dugoutIsmail Achik knocks on the manager's door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana 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 Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Gianluca Longobardi has come up in conversations Salernitana were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Luca Villa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Roberto Capasso is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Luca Villa 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 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.
The deal that would have taken Luigi Gabriel Barba to AlbinoLeffe has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Salernitana with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Virtus Entella have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
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 Antonio Donnarumma is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Salernitana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Salernitana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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 Gubbio waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Salernitana is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Salernitana asked and Juve Stabia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 120 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Salernitana people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Pisa for Eugenio D'Ursi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Salernitana hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Salernitana asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Luca Villa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jonathan Yegros is living that version at Salernitana, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
Add another name to the list: Gubbio have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Luigi Gabriel Barba. The answer from Salernitana has not changed — yet.
Jonathan Yegros arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Salernitana have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
Luca Villa 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Congiu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Salernitana have made the call to Dinamo Zagreb. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Antonio Donnarumma and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juve Stabia have kept their man, and Salernitana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Salernitana told Andrea Zilio something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana 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 Salernitana 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 Kees de Boer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Salernitana has been clear about where Galo Capomaggio stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Salernitana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ismail Achik signs something — a contract at Salernitana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for Salernitana
Luca Villa 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.
Altamura left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout20 May 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Roberto Canali to a room that had heard them before.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Congiu 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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“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 Salernitana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Luca Villa 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.
Squad13 May 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
Marked 8.03. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Salernitana.
Boardroom13 May 2030
Nobody left the Salernitana dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout13 May 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Roberto Canali to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at Salernitana 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.
Luca Villa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 May 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mikel Amondarain has come out of that comparison in the side, and Salernitana have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom29 Apr 2030
100% of the income goes out in wages at Salernitana
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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Congiu 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.
Luca Villa 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.
14 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana 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 Salernitana can pretend not to have heard.
Antonio Donnarumma 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Salernitana will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Salernitana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Congiu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Antonio Donnarumma has come out of that comparison in the side, and Salernitana have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Salernitana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Salernitana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Words at Salernitana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kees de Boer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every 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 words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andrea Bonetti provided it, and the 8.44 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Luca Villa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Salernitana and Audace Cerignola, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Ismail Achik was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.62. 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 words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Luca Villa 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 Riccardo Congiu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The words a physio says slowly. 50 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Luca Villa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Kees de Boer 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Salernitana, another week without a signature from Eugenio D'Ursi.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luca Villa signs something — a contract at Salernitana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5, 53 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.