Marked for Matteo Piazza
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pergolettese may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Samuele Careccia 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Jure Cerin gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jure Cerin has just signed for Pergolettese, and for once the answer mattered.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 Mar 2028
The mood at Pergolettese has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market13 Mar 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 The request is on a desk at Pergolettese, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“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.
Market13 Mar 2028
Dario Giannini has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pergolettese they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Samuele Careccia 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.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
12 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Pergolettese training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boussaïd 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
1‑2 to Lecco, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Richard Marcone, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Feb 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Umberto Camelio: 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.” Pergolettese have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Samuele Careccia 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Pergolettese training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boussaïd 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.
Match26 Feb 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Zaid Jaouhari
“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 ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
The chances came and went for Abdoul Bane
4 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
5.10. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Pergolettese
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad21 Feb 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 Pergolettese this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Mehdi Boussaïd 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.
Squad21 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.
Match19 Feb 2028
0‑1 to Renate, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Matteo Piazza dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
A mark of 5.26 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Mehdi Boussaïd keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Pergolettese say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Feb 2028
The mood at Pergolettese has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market14 Feb 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pergolettese is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
A chastening introduction for Veikko Koskinen — 5.76
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.76 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Samuele Careccia 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.
Match12 Feb 2028
1‑2 to Virtus Verona, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Gabriele Alesi
“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 ratings14 Feb 2028
Mehdi Boussaïd was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Pergolettese training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoul Bane 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
Crisis
Match29 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Pergolettese's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pergolettese has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Samuele Careccia 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.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Enea Bernasconi has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Pergolettese have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Pergolettese training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boussaïd 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Richard Marcone
“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.
Match29 Jan 2028
Dolomiti Bellunesi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Jan 2028
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad31 Jan 2028
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 Jan 2028
The mood at Pergolettese has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market17 Jan 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 Pergolettese, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jan 2028
Dario Giannini has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pergolettese they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match15 Jan 2028
4 matches without a win for Pergolettese
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Pergolettese are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Samuele Careccia 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Pergolettese training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boussaïd 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.
Match15 Jan 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jesper van Riel, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match6 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Pergolettese's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pergolettese has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pergolettese this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Nov 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Pergolettese
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Mehdi Boussaïd 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.
Match6 Nov 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuele Careccia, and the manager let it.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Pergolettese pull $876.9K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market8 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Pergolettese know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Oct 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 Pergolettese, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Pergolettese's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Pergolettese has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Samuele Careccia 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Pergolettese training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Boussaïd 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
Matteo Piazza scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Triestina, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad18 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Alper Ademoğlu
“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 ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Gabriele Alesi 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 Pergolettese, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Sep 2027
15 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mattia Capoferri
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pergolettese lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Richard Marcone: 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.” Pergolettese have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Umberto Camelio gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Umberto Camelio has just signed for Pergolettese, and for once the answer mattered.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match4 Sep 2027
Novara left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 5.36, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Market6 Sep 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Pergolettese know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Domenico Grassi has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Pergolettese can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The Pergolettese 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.
Market5 Jul 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 Pergolettese, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pergolettese this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yahya Abu Dahi is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market5 Jul 2027
The chase for Daniel Fratti ended with $45.0K changing hands and Vis Pesaro out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Matteo Piazza from Sampdoria for $160.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Sebastiano Lombardo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Pergolettese training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaid Jaouhari 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
Steady
Market5 Jul 2027
“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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Leganés have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Antonino La Gumina. The answer from Sampdoria has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Sekulov and Sampdoria agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market5 Jul 2027
Business is business: Matteo Piazza goes
Pergolettese paid $160.0K and Sampdoria took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jun 2027
Massimo Coda 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 Sampdoria can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Simone Pafundi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Market28 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Matteo Piazza again, and this time the name on the line is Pergolettese. Sampdoria are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad28 Jun 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.