Marked for Silvano Biggi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Feb 2029
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pineto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matteo Borsoi commits to Pineto for another 3 years.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
$10.0K was the most the club would pay and Torino were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Match17 Feb 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Tonti, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Spano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“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; Pineto are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Gregorio Tedesco to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
A promise honoured at Pineto
Something was said to Silvano Biggi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Dec 2028
A fracture rules Steven Havales out for 19 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pineto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match9 Dec 2028
6 matches without a win for Pineto
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Pineto are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Germinario was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Dec 2028
Gubbio left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
“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 dugout11 Dec 2028
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 0‑2 Gregorio Tedesco left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market11 Dec 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Pineto, another week without a signature from Silvano Biggi.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
The plan did not have a place for Diago Guzmán
Nobody at Pineto is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
An afternoon Silvano Biggi will want back
Marked 5.68. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Dec 2028
26 days out for Steven Havales after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pineto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match2 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Pineto's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pineto has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tommaso D'Orazio and Pineto agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Germinario 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Maxime Spano 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 dugout4 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Silvano Biggi
“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 dugout4 Dec 2028
“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.
Match2 Dec 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Latina defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
Federico Tonin 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 Federico Tonin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Nov 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Gianluca Germinario 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.
Match11 Nov 2028
A goal on 91 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad13 Nov 2028
A falling-out at Pineto
Rogelio Esparza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
Luca Schirone 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 Pineto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market13 Nov 2028
“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 dugout13 Nov 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Nov 2028
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.
Match4 Nov 2028
A bad afternoon for Pineto against Reggiana
0‑2 to Reggiana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Luca Schirone
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Maxime Spano 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 dugout6 Nov 2028
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Gregorio Tedesco to a room that had heard them before.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Silvano Biggi moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Pineto than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Silvano Biggi asks for a word with the manager
“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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The plan did not have a place for Maxime Spano
Nobody at Pineto is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Oct 2028
87 days out for Steven Havales after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pineto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match7 Oct 2028
Pineto make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Pineto have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Germinario was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Oct 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Silvano Biggi. 2‑1 against Vis Pesaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces9 Oct 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Silvano Biggi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match7 Oct 2028
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Silvano Biggi in the middle of it, and Vis Pesaro unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diago Guzmán, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Pineto
Samuele Tupone and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pineto may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Belardinelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“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 Pineto know it.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Baggi, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Gregorio Tedesco was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Pineto dressing room was either.
Match16 Sep 2028
Point won or two lost for Pineto?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Campobasso? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
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.
Market18 Sep 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Luca Schirone may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Andrea Occhione arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Andrea Occhione has, at Pineto, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Germinario was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
The clock did what Cavese would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“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 Pineto know it.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Anass Serbouti 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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
Pineto take on the side everybody is chasing
Campobasso arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Pineto and Cavese have settled on $340.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Pineto close the window on a squad of their own making
12 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
The deal that would have taken Silvano Biggi to Forli has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Pineto with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maxime Spano and Pineto agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match2 Sep 2028
Ravenna made Pineto work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Pineto will try again when the window opens; Forli may not be selling by then.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Spano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Market21 Aug 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pineto have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Gregorio Tedesco recited it perfectly.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Pineto have done the hard part with Cavese, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
5 academy graduates step up at Pineto
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Belardinelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market21 Aug 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrea Bruni 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ignazio Amato 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mauro Milani 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Aug 2028
“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 Pineto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
$190.0K settles it between the clubs for Riccardo Liberali
Cremonese have accepted the money. What Pineto do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market14 Aug 2028
Only the photograph left for Silvano Biggi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Silvano Biggi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Aug 2028
At 38, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Maxime Spano 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
A loan move for Federico Agazzi is in the works
Pineto have made the call to Cremonese. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Pineto
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Silvano Biggi out for 14 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pineto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Pineto and Sassuolo have settled on $93.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Como keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
The offer went to Genoa 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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Tommaso Gatto 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
The formation has left Alfredo Marini behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Pineto will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giovanni Di Renzo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jul 2028
Silvano Biggi 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Como; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market17 Jul 2028
Silvano Biggi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Monza is saying, and nobody at Pineto is enjoying the guessing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A move Alfredo Marini would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alfredo Marini is living that version at Pineto, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hellas Verona have kept their man, and Pineto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Luca Belardinelli 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Pineto can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Silvano Biggi out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pineto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
$120.0K settles it between the clubs for Ibrahima Papa Wade
Cesena have accepted the money. What Pineto do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Giovanni Di Renzo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atalanta keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Catania have kept their man, and Pineto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Belardinelli 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Ank Asmussen 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Pineto are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ruggero Castelli has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad3 Jul 2028
37 days out for Silvano Biggi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pineto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market3 Jul 2028
“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 Pineto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The Pineto board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The deal with Hellas Verona 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.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Pineto asked and AS Roma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cristian Minneci and Pineto agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Pineto know which stage they are at.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Pineto
Samuele Tupone 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Pressure builds in the Pineto boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Silvano Biggi out for 44 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pineto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Jun 2028
Luca Schirone 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 Pineto can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Pineto had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AS Roma, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad26 Jun 2028
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Pineto will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Market26 Jun 2028
Reggiana paid $120.0K and Pineto took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Spano 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Samuele Tupone 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jun 2028
Silvano Biggi breaks a bone — 51 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Pineto people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market19 Jun 2028
Silvano Biggi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
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.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Koper have kept their man, and Pineto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Spano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Anass Serbouti 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jun 2028
Giovanni Di Renzo damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Silvano Biggi breaks a bone — 58 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pineto can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Giovanni Di Renzo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Germinario was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
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.
Market12 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Mantova have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Francesco Marone. The answer from Pineto has not changed — yet.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Ank Asmussen 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.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to AC Milan: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Giovanni Di Renzo
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pineto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad5 Jun 2028
66 days out for Silvano Biggi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pineto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Ruggero Castelli has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Pineto can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cristian Minneci has just signed for Pineto, and for once the answer mattered.
Market5 Jun 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pineto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Frosinone, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Germinario was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Pineto have made the call to Empoli. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pineto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market22 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pineto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 May 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Maksim Minkov 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.
Squad22 May 2028
At 38, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Germinario 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 May 2028
Pressure builds in the Pineto boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pineto can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 May 2028
A move Tommaso Gatto would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tommaso Gatto is living that version at Pineto, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Germinario 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.
Squad1 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tommaso Gatto commits to Pineto for another 4 years.
Squad1 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Silvano Biggi
“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 dugout1 May 2028
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Tommaso D'Orazio was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout1 May 2028
Luca Schirone 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 Luca Schirone trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Apr 2028
“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 Pineto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pineto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Gianluca Germinario 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Pineto
Ank Asmussen 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
“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 dugout24 Apr 2028
Federico Baggi 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 Federico Baggi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Apr 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Pineto has been clear about where Francesco Marone stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Mar 2028
37 days out for Ignazio Armani after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pineto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pineto may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market27 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Silvano Biggi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Silvano Biggi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Maksim Minkov 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Maxime Spano 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Samuele Duro
“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.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Gubbio next, and one man in the Pineto dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market27 Mar 2028
Pineto have let the market know Luca Schirone can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Feb 2028
Pineto sink to position 14
23 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market28 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Silvano Biggi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Silvano Biggi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pineto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Feb 2028
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Germinario was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Baggi, and the manager let it.
Match26 Feb 2028
A bad afternoon for Pineto against Reggiana
0‑1 to Reggiana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead28 Feb 2028
A six-pointer for Pineto
Guidonia Montecelio next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Pineto
Ank Asmussen 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Feb 2028
Samuele Duro 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 Pineto can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Feb 2028
Monza come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Pineto did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
No thanks: Daniel Çuli rejects the move
Pineto had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Hellas Verona, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Pineto ran out of time with Empoli. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hellas Verona have kept their man, and Pineto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Feb 2028
Livorno left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Maxime Spano 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 Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mantova waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Fee done, terms next for Daniel Çuli
Pineto and Hellas Verona have settled on $110.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The offer went to Cesena 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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Anass Serbouti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Gianluca Germinario 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 targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Virtus Entella have kept their man, and Pineto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Fabio Desole 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 Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Jan 2028
0‑1 to Sambenedettese, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Pineto can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Jan 2028
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pineto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match22 Jan 2028
Chastening afternoon for Pineto
A 0‑3 beating by Perugia was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with Empoli, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Giovanni Di Renzo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Market24 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Mantova have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Silvano Biggi. The answer from Pineto has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Pineto
Maxime Spano 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
“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.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Doors closed at Pineto
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pineto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Gianluca Germinario 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Pineto
Ank Asmussen 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
“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 dugout20 Dec 2027
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.” Ruggero Castelli chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match18 Dec 2027
Pineto and Torres cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Torres came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead20 Dec 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alessandro Tonti’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Pineto needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 10. 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alessio Alberti
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pineto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Dec 2027
Pineto make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Pineto have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Fabio Desole 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 Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces13 Dec 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Silvano Biggi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luca Schirone, and the manager let it.
Match11 Dec 2027
Gubbio made Pineto work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Marked 7.38 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Pineto had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ruggero Castelli kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
There were 6 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Fabio Desole is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Giovanni Di Renzo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Germinario 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.
Match27 Nov 2027
The drought breaks for Pineto
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Pianese were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Match27 Nov 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Antonio Satriano’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Pineto.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Samuele Duro 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 Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Silvano Biggi
“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 ratings29 Nov 2027
Marked 7.48 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Pineto had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Pineto
5 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Maksim Minkov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Pineto
Ank Asmussen 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giovanni Di Renzo, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“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.
Match20 Nov 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Guidonia Montecelio came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 9. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Pineto
Antonio Satriano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Germinario 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tommaso D'Orazio, and the manager let it.
Match23 Oct 2027
A bad afternoon for Pineto against Livorno
0‑1 to Livorno, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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 Ruggero Castelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Maxime Spano 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 Maxime Spano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The plan did not have a place for Maxime Spano
Nobody at Pineto is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 8. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market25 Oct 2027
Pineto have let the market know Francesco Marone can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Oct 2027
At last: Pineto win one
11 matches without a win, and then this, against Vis Pesaro. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Germinario was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Pineto
Giovanni Di Renzo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
At 23 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
Three points for Pineto, 1‑0 the final word against Vis Pesaro in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 7.16 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Silvano Biggi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 7.62 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Pineto had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Ruggero Castelli could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diago Guzmán and Pineto agree another 4 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Pineto
Samuele Duro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giovanni Di Renzo, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Federico Viero 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Diago Guzmán: “I am not a substitute”
“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 Pineto will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Vis Pesaro in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Federico Baggi asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market11 Oct 2027
“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 dugout11 Oct 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Silvano Biggi has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Sep 2027
7 matches without a win for Pineto
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Pineto are no longer polite ones.
Market13 Sep 2027
The Torres deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Francesco Marone reports back to Pineto with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matteo Borsoi commits to Pineto for another 3 years.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Maksim Minkov is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A move Marius Hosu would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Marius Hosu is living that version at Pineto, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Pineto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Spano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Pineto leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match11 Sep 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Pineto
Filippo D'Andrea and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Giovanni Di Renzo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Bari 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan move for Omar Fayed is in the works
Pineto have made the call to Frosinone. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market14 Jun 2027
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Pineto could get for him.
Market14 Jun 2027
Pineto have let the market know Federico Viero can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Francesco Marone asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 2027
“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 Pineto, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
Erdis Kraja 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 Pineto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Apr 2027
Full time on the season at Pineto
Position 9 on 36 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad19 Apr 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match17 Apr 2027
5 matches without a win for Pineto
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Pineto are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Pineto can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Pineto
Erdis Kraja 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Giovanni Di Renzo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pineto is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Pineto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filippo D'Andrea 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Pineto come up short against Forli
Forli left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“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
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Pineto
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Market
The clock does Luca Lombardi’s negotiating for him