From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Pianese
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match30 Jan 2027
7 matches without a win for Pianese
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Pianese are no longer polite ones.
Market1 Feb 2027
Luca Ercolani 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 Pianese can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Michael Mortume: 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.” Pianese have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market1 Feb 2027
Manuel Tirelli has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pianese they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Feb 2027
At 20, Lorenzo Berardi is already the best thing here
An average of 7.03 in a first team he is several years too young for. Pianese have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Match30 Jan 2027
It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Luca Fabrizi 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 Pianese, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad1 Feb 2027
One booking too many, and Luca Fabrizi sits out. Pianese lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Nov 2026
“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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
324% of the income goes out in wages at Pianese
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pianese can pretend not to have heard.
Match24 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for Pianese
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Pianese are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Michael Mortume
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
595% of the income goes out in wages at Pianese
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 2-2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Pianese, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market5 Oct 2026
Experience through the door at Pianese
Willames José arrives at 36 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Market5 Oct 2026
Pianese bring in an old head
Guillaume Dequaire is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
Cup progress for Pianese
A 1-0 win over Arezzo, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pianese can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Sep 2026
Gubbio left with the points after a 0-1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 21 years old, Mamadou Baldé became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.