Marked for Samuele Sina
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Crotone had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
A brace, and Andrea Rizzo Pinna takes the afternoon — 8.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andrea Rizzo Pinna provided it, and the 8.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market4 Sep 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 Union Brescia can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Sep 2028
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.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Union Brescia offered $3.5M; AS Roma said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Riccardo Fogliata has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Union Brescia is pretending otherwise.
The dugout4 Sep 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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Union Brescia close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 12 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.
Transfer targets4 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Union Brescia have gone to AC Milan with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets31 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Davide Di Molfetta 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
26 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market31 Jul 2028
Neuchâtel Xamax are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Union Brescia will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout31 Jul 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Union Brescia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market31 Jul 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andrea Rizzo Pinna signs something — a contract at Union Brescia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market31 Jul 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Riccardo Fogliata may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jul 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 Union Brescia can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
No deal for Warren Bondo at that price
Union Brescia offered $3.9M; AC Milan said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
$1.1M on the table at Cremonese. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Stade Brestois is saying, and nobody at Union Brescia is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Union Brescia asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Filippo Vesentini 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 Jul 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Filippo Vesentini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Jul 2028
The Luca Vido talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Union Brescia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market24 Jul 2028
Union Brescia have let the market know Jacopo Pellegrini can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Union Brescia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
$1.9M settles it between the clubs for Ramón Villalba
Pianese have accepted the money. What Union Brescia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market17 Jul 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 Union Brescia can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Inter wanted more than $3.0M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cagliari have kept their man, and Union Brescia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Ariel López 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 Union Brescia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Stade Brestois 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Paolo Doneda and Union Brescia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Samuele Sina
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
Filippo Vesentini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout22 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrea Rizzo Pinna trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 May 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.
Market22 May 2028
The Stefano Gori talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Union Brescia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market22 May 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Riccardo Fogliata may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad22 May 2028
Samuele Sina: “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 Union Brescia will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout22 May 2028
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 Jonathan Ávila has written the date down.
Boardroom22 May 2028
The Union Brescia academy earns its keep
15 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
The dugout22 May 2028
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Jacopo Pellegrini has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 May 2028
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Union Brescia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 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 Union Brescia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 May 2028
Mattia Zennaro 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 dugout15 May 2028
Samuele Sina gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market15 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jacopo Pellegrini’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
Davide Di Molfetta damages knee ligaments — 56 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 56 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Filippo Vesentini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“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 dugout27 Mar 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Davide Vitturini is on it.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ospitaletto in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market27 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Union Brescia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market27 Mar 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Alberto Spagnoli may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Union Brescia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match20 Mar 2028
49 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market20 Mar 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
Whatever happens, Union Brescia do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match18 Mar 2028
It needed Jacopo Pellegrini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Trento, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Mattia Zennaro 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 Mattia Zennaro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Mar 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Tapia, and the manager let it.
Market20 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Stefano Gori’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout20 Mar 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
Steady
Match21 Feb 2028
First, on 43 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Luca Vido scores twice — 8.96
Two goals and a mark of 8.96 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Union Brescia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout21 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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samuele Sina and Union Brescia agree another 4 years.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Tommy Maistrello will call it something else in private.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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.” Franco Barone kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
The big one: Pergolettese come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Union Brescia will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Union Brescia told Jacopo Pellegrini something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brayan Boci, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Brayan Boci gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Brayan Boci is on it.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Pergolettese next, and one man in the Union Brescia dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Union Brescia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Union Brescia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Union Brescia have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Nov 2027
Filippo Vesentini 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.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Union Brescia, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Something was said to Luca Vido and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
A mark of 7.75, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Samuele Sina gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
Al-Faisaly come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ospitaletto did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Kévin Hoggas has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Ospitaletto is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Mauro Semprini 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 targets21 Jun 2027
Ospitaletto have made the call to AC Milan. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Luca Sonzogni gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Luca Sonzogni is on it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alessandro Torri's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Francesco Gobbi 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Ospitaletto have made Francesco Gobbi available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad21 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
Market7 Jun 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The deal with Torino 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Mattia Ievoli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marco Bertoli, and the manager let it.
Market7 Jun 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Ospitaletto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Cortese 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Riccardo Nessi has moved up it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Ospitaletto will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Michel Panatti 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 Ospitaletto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matheus Dos Santos is living that version at Ospitaletto, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Ospitaletto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Piermarini 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 dugout10 May 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.
Market10 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ospitaletto, another week without a signature from Matteo Gualandris.
Squad10 May 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout10 May 2027
Mauro Semprini 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 Ospitaletto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Feb 2027
3 matches without a goal for Ospitaletto
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Ospitaletto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattia Piermarini 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 dugout22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Ospitaletto lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Match20 Feb 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Giana Erminio came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriele Mondini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 Feb 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Samuele Sina has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ospitaletto will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market22 Feb 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mauro Semprini may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.