Nicolas Viola

Defensive Midfielder - Trento
20 Aug 2027
Friday
Process

Marked for Nicolas Viola

49 Edition

The Ravenna Post

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ravenna turn down Padova for Simone Rabbi

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Alessandro Bianconi puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $620.0K sale of Matteo Motti

He is going to Mantova, the club has $620.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Transfer targets

An offer of $1.4M for Ahmed Farouk

Ravenna have gone to Wadi Degla with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ben Ahmed Kohili

Ravenna asked and Paradou said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Transfer targets

Ravenna bid $920.0K for Enrico Giannini

The offer went to Cosenza this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

Fernando Corica signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fernando Corica commits to Ravenna for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Stefano Okaka 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.

Market

Matteo Motti moves on

Mantova pay $620.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

In brief

Back issues
48 Edition

The Trento Courier

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Andrea Trainotti hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Trento can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Trento say no — this time

The offer from Perugia for Lautaro Urtasún 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.

Transfer targets

$180.0K settles it between the clubs for Nicolas Viola

Ravenna have accepted the money. What Trento do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Squad

Ramiro Rúmbolo is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Trento

Federico Guerra 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.

Squad

Filippo Frison has improved at 24, 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. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Squad

Christian Aucelli 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.

Transfer targets

Colón tell Trento: Iván Ojeda is not for sale

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Francesco Benassai

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Benassai, and the manager let it.

In brief

47 Edition

The Ravenna Post

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ravenna sell their best player to Palermo

$5.0M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.

Market

Nicolas Viola has said yes to Lumezzane

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ravenna have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Matteo Motti puts it in writing

“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $5.0M sale of Cristiano Bani

He is going to Palermo, the club has $5.0M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Market

Empoli come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Ravenna did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

Simone Rabbi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simone Rabbi and Ravenna agree another 4 years.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Gabriel Silva

Ravenna asked and Sporting CP 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 dugout

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In brief

43 Edition

The Ravenna Post

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Stefano Okaka out for 31 days

31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Nicolas Viola is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ravenna is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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 dugout

No hiding place for Alessandro Bianconi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Bianconi, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Manuel Fischnaller knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ravenna, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Cristian Spini is still paying for one afternoon at Ravenna

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 dugout

When it matters, Lorenzo Da Pozzo plays

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.

Market

The Simone Rabbi question follows Ravenna around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Rabbi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

39 Edition

The Ravenna Post

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Stefano Okaka

64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nicolas Viola

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolas Viola will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ravenna the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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 dugout

Simone Rabbi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Cristian Spini is still paying for one afternoon at Ravenna

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 dugout

Lorenzo Da Pozzo has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Ravenna 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.

The dugout

Giulio Donati knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giulio Donati trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Simone Rabbi question follows Ravenna around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Rabbi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

  • Squad Luca Falbo in the team of the week — 6.75
  • Match Mid-table, and Ravenna know it
35 Edition

The Ravenna Post

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Stefano Okaka damages knee ligaments — 94 days out

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Luca Falbo

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Nicolas Viola has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravenna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

The wait goes on for Ravenna

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Alessandro Bianconi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Lorenzo Da Pozzo 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 dugout

No hiding place for Cristian Spini

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristian Spini, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Giovanni Zaro

Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vincenzo Guidi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ravenna dressing room was either.

In brief

32 Edition

The Ravenna Post

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Stefano Okaka damages knee ligaments — 116 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 116 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

The dugout

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Squad

Giovanni Zaro stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Giovanni Zaro and Ravenna agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Luca Sermenghi 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.

Player ratings

Luca Falbo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

Luca Sermenghi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vincenzo Guidi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ravenna dressing room was either.

The dugout

The form table has caught Paolo Rrapaj

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

In brief

31 Edition

The Ravenna Post

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Stefano Okaka out for 123 days

123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

No mercy from Ravenna

Bra will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ravenna were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Player ratings

A brace, and Fernando Corica takes the afternoon — 8.66

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fernando Corica provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Nicolas Viola has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravenna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Home is on Fernando Corica's mind

“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; Ravenna are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Ravenna

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Simone Rabbi was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.95. 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 dugout

A satisfied Vincenzo Guidi

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Vincenzo Guidi could afford to be generous.

In brief

29 Edition

The Ravenna Post

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolas Viola

51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Ravenna strike at the death to beat Guidonia Montecelio

There were 87 minutes on the clock and Guidonia Montecelio had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Ravenna did not stop to explain themselves.

Player ratings

Stefano Okaka, 37, rolls back the years — 8.21

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.21 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Match

Ravenna end the wait against Guidonia Montecelio

It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Squad

Daniele Casiraghi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Ravenna see off Guidonia Montecelio

Three points for Ravenna, 2‑1 the final word against Guidonia Montecelio in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Cristiano Bani — 7.10

A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.10, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

Player ratings

Luca Falbo was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

The team sheet said everything about Matteo Solini

Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Matteo Solini.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Luca Falbo
  • The dugout A promise honoured at Ravenna
28 Edition

The Ravenna Post

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolas Viola

58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Fernando Corica has said yes to Plymouth Argyle

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ravenna have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Match

The wait goes on for Ravenna

8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Market

Matteo Motti asks to leave Ravenna

“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.

The dugout

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Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.

Squad

Giacomo Poluzzi out for 23 days

The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Giacomo Poluzzi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

A muscle injury and 14 days out for Cristian Spini

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Ravenna will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

The dugout

Fernando Corica gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

27 Edition

The Ravenna Post

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolas Viola

65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

7 matches without a win for Ravenna

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Ravenna are no longer polite ones.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nicolas Viola

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolas Viola will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ravenna the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Ravenna close the window on a squad of their own making

1 in and 0 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.

Squad

Stefano Okaka in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Giovanni Zaro 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.

Match

Matteo Motti’s goal not enough for Ravenna

Matteo Motti scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Arezzo, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Giulio Donati

“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 dugout

Vincenzo Guidi answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

26 Edition

The Ravenna Post

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Viola out for 73 days

73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Ravenna say no — this time

The offer from Chesterfield for Fernando Corica 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.

Match

No end in sight to Ravenna's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravenna has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Match

Ravenna cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ravenna against Livorno

0‑1 to Livorno, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

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 Vincenzo Guidi to a room that had heard them before.

Boardroom

91% of the income goes out in wages at Ravenna

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.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Mattia Scaringi's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

In brief

25 Edition

The Ravenna Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Viola out for 80 days

80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

14 days out for Giacomo Poluzzi after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Nicolas Viola agrees terms with Cosenza

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ravenna people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Ravenna say no — this time

The offer from Cagliari for Cristiano Bani 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.

Market

Fernando Corica attracts admirers

The name of Fernando Corica has come up in conversations Ravenna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Match

5 matches without a win for Ravenna

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ravenna are no longer polite ones.

Transfer targets

Ahmed Farouk will not be coming to Ravenna

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Wadi Degla is saying, and nobody at Ravenna is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Daniele Casiraghi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

  • Match Ravenna come up short against Torres
  • Player ratings Joshua Tenkorang ran the middle of the pitch — 6.92
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
24 Edition

The Ravenna Post

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Viola out for 88 days

88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Giacomo Poluzzi breaks a bone — 21 days out

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.

Market

Hellas Verona come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Ravenna did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Matteo Motti hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravenna can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to Ravenna's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravenna has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Ravenna

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ahmed Farouk

Ravenna asked and Wadi Degla 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 dugout

Fernando Corica gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

23 Edition

The Ravenna Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Viola out for 96 days

96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Giacomo Poluzzi breaks a bone — 29 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

Ravenna count the cost of losing Gennaro Conte

39 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ben Ahmed Kohili

Ravenna asked and Paradou said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Matteo Motti’s goal not enough for Ravenna

Matteo Motti scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Sambenedettese, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Manuel Fischnaller

“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 dugout

Vincenzo Guidi answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Player ratings

Simone Rabbi beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

22 Edition

The Ravenna Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolas Viola

103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Giacomo Poluzzi breaks a bone — 36 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 129% of the Ravenna income

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.

Match

Late, late show earns Ravenna a point

Minute 94, against Pineto, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Match

Ravenna share the spoils with Pineto

A 2‑2 draw with Pineto leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

Manuel Fischnaller knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ravenna, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Vincenzo Guidi: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

In brief

21 Edition

The Ravenna Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nicolas Viola damages knee ligaments — 111 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 111 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

43 days out for Giacomo Poluzzi after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Tommaso Stagni: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ravenna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Daniele Casiraghi reaches 500 appearances

500 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Ravenna

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ravenna against Campobasso

0‑1 to Campobasso, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Match

The half-term report on Ravenna

Position 9, 25 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.

The dugout

Vincenzo Guidi answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Cristian Spini

“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.

In brief

20 Edition

The Ravenna Post

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Viola out for 118 days

118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A fracture rules Giacomo Poluzzi out for 50 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravenna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A row about effort at Ravenna

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabián Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Fernando Corica

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fernando Corica, and the manager let it.

Match

Ravenna find a way past Carpi

Carpi made Ravenna work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Simone Rabbi at his very best

Marked 8.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ravenna.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Alessandro Bianconi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Vincenzo Guidi has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Vincenzo Guidi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

Player ratings

Joshua Tenkorang beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

19 Edition

The Ravenna Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Viola out for 126 days

126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

57 days out for Giacomo Poluzzi after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Ravenna taken apart

0‑3 to Ascoli, 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.

Market

Fabián Castillo hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravenna can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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 dugout

Edoardo Duca gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Ravenna 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 dugout

Vincenzo Guidi answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

18 Edition

The Ravenna Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nicolas Viola damages knee ligaments — 135 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 135 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.

Squad

Giacomo Poluzzi breaks a bone — 64 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Manuel Fischnaller, 35, rolls back the years — 7.89

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Tempers go at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.

Match

Forli take the points off Ravenna

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No hiding place for Manuel Fischnaller

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Manuel Fischnaller, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 126% of everything Ravenna earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Player ratings

Joshua Tenkorang was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. 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.

In brief

17 Edition

The Ravenna Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Viola out for 142 days

142 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

71 days out for Giacomo Poluzzi after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Manuel Fischnaller, 35, rolls back the years — 8.97

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.97 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Daniele Casiraghi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Ravenna get the job done against Pontedera

A 3‑1 win over Pontedera, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Fabián Castillo 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 dugout

Vincenzo Guidi: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

Mattia Scaringi is still paying for one afternoon at Ravenna

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 dugout

Fabián Castillo left out for tactical reasons at Ravenna

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

16 Edition

The Ravenna Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nicolas Viola damages knee ligaments — 150 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 150 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.

Squad

Giacomo Poluzzi breaks a bone — 78 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Fabián Castillo keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ravenna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Stefano Okaka, 37, rolls back the years — 7.81

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

A falling-out at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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 dugout

No hiding place for Fernando Corica

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fernando Corica, and the manager let it.

Match

Late, late show earns Ravenna a point

Minute 91, against Ternana, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Match

Ravenna share the spoils with Ternana

A 1‑1 draw with Ternana leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

15 Edition

The Ravenna Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Joyce Anacoura

There were 16 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolas Viola

158 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Giacomo Poluzzi breaks a bone — 85 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Ravenna bow out of the cup

Sassuolo go through and Ravenna go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Market

Fabián Castillo asks to leave Ravenna

“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.

Match

Cruel end for Gubbio as Ravenna pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ravenna scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

The terraces

A cup hiding at Sassuolo leaves Ravenna explaining themselves

0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.

Player ratings

Manuel Fischnaller, 35, rolls back the years — 8.08

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Giovanni Zaro in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

9 Edition

The Ravenna Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A fracture rules Giacomo Poluzzi out for 129 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravenna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Cristian Spini sends Ravenna through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Cristian Spini obliged against Giugliano. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Ravenna.

Squad

Cristian Spini takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

Daniele Casiraghi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Giovanni Zaro 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.

Player ratings

Cristian Spini was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.24. 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Lorenzo Da Pozzo

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.

Match

Ravenna get the job done against Livorno

A 1‑0 win over Livorno, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Joshua Tenkorang

Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

5 Edition

The Ravenna Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Nicolas Viola asks to leave Ravenna

“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.

Squad

Daniele Casiraghi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Fabián Castillo 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.

Match

Ravenna get the job done against Pineto

A 1‑0 win over Pineto, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Joshua Tenkorang

7.65, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Ravenna had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

Market

Ravenna buy the years ahead of Christian Raggioli

He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Squad

Christian Raggioli signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian Raggioli and Ravenna agree another 3 years.

The dugout

A satisfied Vincenzo Guidi

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Vincenzo Guidi could afford to be generous.

Squad

Daniele Casiraghi is off the mark for Ravenna

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

4 Edition

The Ravenna Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Joyce Anacoura out for 17 days

17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A falling-out at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Giovanni Zaro 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.

Transfer targets

Ravenna rebuffed over Paco Esteban

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecce have kept their man, and Ravenna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

7 new faces, and Ravenna are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Boardroom

Ravenna say no to the training-ground money

The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.

In brief

3 Edition

The Ravenna Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Joyce Anacoura damages knee ligaments — 25 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Words exchanged at Ravenna

Daniele Casiraghi 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.

Transfer targets

Ravenna rebuffed over Lorenzo Di Stefano

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torres have kept their man, and Ravenna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Ravenna count the cost of losing Matteo Mandorlini

18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Fabián Castillo needs a bigger stage

He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Ravenna know which stage they are at.

Transfer targets

Ravenna try to borrow Paco Esteban

Lecce have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief