Marked for Thomas Clementi
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Renate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
54 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match23 Jan 2027
4 matches without a win for Renate
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Renate are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Renate
Riccardo De Zen 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Andrea Bonetti has his answer from Renate; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market25 Jan 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Campobasso will make the call about Andrea Bartoccioni this week. Renate have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Clementi 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Lorenzo De Leo 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 Dec 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Arzignano leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simone Auriletto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
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.” Tommaso Catalano chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Thomas Clementi 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gianluca Rossi, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Riccardo De Zen
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Market14 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tommaso Nobile signs something — a contract at Renate or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Renate
4 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.
Squad23 Nov 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 Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
Vicenza left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Tommaso Catalano to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Riccardo De Zen, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Clementi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
Lumezzane next, and one man in the Renate dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
Triestina left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 126% of everything Renate earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Riccardo De Zen 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Tommaso Catalano after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Mbarick Fall 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Clementi 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Renate than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Renate
7 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Renate
Tommaso Nobile 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 terraces12 Oct 2026
He is 21 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrea Bonetti
“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 ratings12 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.39, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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.” Tommaso Catalano chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Thomas Clementi 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Young player of the week: Simone Suppa
At 18 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Match10 Oct 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Pergolettese defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Campobasso had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Renate until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo 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 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Renate
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
53 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Tommaso Catalano to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Simone Suppa 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Renate did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Renate
Filippo Vesentini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 Aug 2026
Pro Vercelli left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market31 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Thomas Clementi again, and this time the name on the line is Campobasso. Renate are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Martín Suárez'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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Renate needed to.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Michele Calì
Nobody at Renate 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
Market3 Aug 2026
Renate say no — this time
The offer from Campobasso for Thomas Clementi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrea Delcarro commits to Renate for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Andrea Delcarro 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
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Vassallo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.