Allegri faces Lazio as the papers split between backing and the sack

Napoli host Lazio at the Maradona at 12:30 CET (11:30 UK, 06:30 ET) on Sunday 8 November. It is first against tenth, 28 points against 14. Yet the morning papers were barely interested in the match. They were interested in Massimiliano Allegri.

Backing or the sack

Il Mattino is the most reassuring. It writes that the president fully supports Allegri, that there is "no ultimatum" for the Lazio game and that De Laurentiis expects a reaction. According to the same paper, Allegri does not feel at risk and is not thinking of resigning. But Il Mattino also runs a separate headline asking whether he would be sacked if Napoli lose to Lazio.

La Gazzetta dello Sport sits in the middle. Its headline reads: "Trust with a time limit".

Tuttosport goes the other way. It reports that De Laurentiis is considering the sack and has already gone through possible replacements with Andrea Chiavelli, with Conceição top of the list. Another Tuttosport headline says the president would be ready to part with Allegri even without the approval of Giovanni Manna, but "in one case only". The headline does not say which case. That is the contradiction of the day: Il Mattino says there is no ultimatum, Tuttosport says the replacement already has a name.

The silence

On one point the papers agree, and that is the silence. Sky Sport reports that Allegri's press conference at Castel Volturno (the training ground) was cancelled a few minutes before it was due to start, with journalists already in the room. The club gave the squad's training-camp retreat as the reason. Sky Sport says the decision came from the president. Il Mattino reaches the same conclusion and describes a silence imposed by De Laurentiis.

The dressing room

Il Mattino also reports that Matteo Politano was angry with De Bruyne, and that there were tense moments with teammates at Castel Volturno as well. The background is familiar. After Porto, Politano said others should also front up to explain, not always the Italians. At the Dragão, De Bruyne had already clashed with Lucca. On the Belgian, whose contract runs out in June, Il Mattino adds that "drastic decisions in January cannot be ruled out".

The harshest verdict on Allegri comes from Crosetti in Repubblica.

"He cannot get out of the mire, he gets nothing right."

Tuttomercatoweb stands apart from the rest. The site reports that Manna has picked Coulibaly and Camara of Monaco to strengthen the midfield for next season.

Our view

The papers are fighting over Allegri's future, but none of them dwells on the most obvious thing. On the eve of the most delicate match of the season, the coach was not allowed to speak, and the club is letting the story be told entirely through behind-the-scenes reports. The backing described by Il Mattino and the sacking Tuttosport writes about come from the same vacuum: nobody has stood up and spoken in public.

Crosetti hits hard, and after Porto he has his reasons. But putting all the blame on the coach leaves out the people who built this squad and the people who decided on the retreat and the silence. Next summer's midfield counts for nothing right now. Lazio kick off at 12:30, and the fans want an answer on the pitch, not in the papers.