Marked for Gioele Conte
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Bra's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bra has to find a result from somewhere.
Match11 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Bra
Position 16 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Bra
Damián Ramírez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Picerno have kept their man, and Bra go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match9 Jan 2027
Guidonia Montecelio left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout11 Jan 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Looking ahead11 Jan 2027
Bra face Pianese in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
A row about effort at Bra
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Luca Bacchin is in the works
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Bra's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bra has to find a result from somewhere.
Market28 Dec 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 Bra can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Gioele Conte, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market28 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lorenzo Lancellotti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Giorgio Lionetti 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
105% of the income goes out in wages at Bra
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Bra and Arezzo take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Tonin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Gioele Conte, 19, steals the show — 7.93
Marked 7.93 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Bra
Damián Ramírez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match17 Oct 2026
Three points for Bra, 1‑0 the final word against Pontedera in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Riccardo Campedelli 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Gioele Conte is the weekend's best young player
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Ismet Sinani left out for tactical reasons at Bra
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.
The dugout19 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Bra
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bra are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Bra
Damián Ramírez 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ismet Sinani, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Enrico Baldini at his very best
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Bra.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Bra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgio Lionetti 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Bra caught on 95 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Ternana scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match10 Oct 2026
Honours even between Bra and Ternana
3‑3, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Bra
Something was said to Gioele Conte and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bra they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Bra
Damián Ramírez 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
141% of the income goes out in wages at Bra
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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Gubbio take the points off Bra
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Bra
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgio Lionetti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Stefano Tuzza
“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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Gioele Conte
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gioele Conte has come out of that comparison in the side, and Bra have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Franklyn Akammadu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.69, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Gioele Conte, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.67
A mark of 7.67 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Bra
Franklyn Akammadu 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Enrico Baldini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bra.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
Bra supporters have found a favourite in Gioele Conte
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Gioele Conte 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 dugout21 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Alessio Russo could afford to be generous.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Gioele Conte is the weekend's best young player
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
A hiding for Bra
Beaten 0‑3 by Perugia, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 17 in, 1 out at Bra
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bra they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Bra
Damián Ramírez 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Bra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgio Lionetti 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Bra
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
Bra come up short against Arezzo
Arezzo left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
13 new faces, and Bra 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Alessio Russo after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan move for Flynn Macnack is in the works
Bra have made the call to Torino. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Stefano Tuzza
Nobody at Bra 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
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Bra
Damián Ramírez 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 targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Bra have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Riccardo Campedelli 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 Aug 2026
The formation has left Gioele Conte behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Bra will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad17 Aug 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Bra has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Enrico Baldini and Bra agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Bra
Enrico Baldini 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Bra 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Bra training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Campedelli 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Gioele Conte is in the works
Bra have made the call to Spezia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.