Marked for Andrea Doppio
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market12 Jun 2028
The chase for Giuseppe Battimelli ended with $360.0K changing hands and Forli out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad12 Jun 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 Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
Giugliano will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Antonio Amato has pre-agreed a move to Siracusa, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Etienne Catena 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
Match5 Jun 2028
Every point is an argument now for Siracusa
Position 19 and 31 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.
Market5 Jun 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 The request is on a desk at Siracusa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jun 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 Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gianluca Contini 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 Jun 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Gianluca Contini
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gianluca Contini has come out of that comparison in the side, and Siracusa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Andrea Doppio has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Siracusa will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Siracusa
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Siracusa is running low.
Market29 May 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 Siracusa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 May 2028
Nicola Valente 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
Market15 May 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 Siracusa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 May 2028
Nicola Valente 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Gianluca Contini 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.
Match13 May 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gianluca Contini. 1‑0 against Giugliano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Doppio, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 May 2028
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad15 May 2028
Too much change too quickly at Siracusa
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Market15 May 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Siracusa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 May 2028
Pressure builds in the Siracusa 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 given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 May 2028
Nicola Valente 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.
Squad1 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ernestas Gudelevicius and Siracusa agree another 4 years.
Squad1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Etienne Catena
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrea Doppio 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
Match10 Apr 2028
Siracusa are in real trouble now
Position 19, 23 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market10 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 Siracusa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match8 Apr 2028
8 matches without a win for Siracusa
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Siracusa are no longer polite ones.
Match8 Apr 2028
Siracusa are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market10 Apr 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martin Annunziata will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Siracusa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Apr 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 Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matteo Polizzi 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Maiko Candiano
“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.