Marked for Gregorio Testa
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Dec 2026
9 matches without a win for Picerno
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Picerno are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Dec 2026
Picerno cannot find the net
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marco Rossello and Picerno agree another 3 years.
The dugout7 Dec 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 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Destiny Efosa Egharevba is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Jorge Fontemachi 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Picerno's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Picerno has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Nov 2026
23 days out for Gregorio Testa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Picerno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
6 saves: Elia Summa was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match28 Nov 2026
Picerno cannot find the net
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuele Esposito, and the manager let it.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
124% of the income goes out in wages at Picerno
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 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 Picerno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
9 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
30 days out for Gregorio Testa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Picerno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Picerno's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Picerno has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match21 Nov 2026
The goals have deserted Picerno
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Picerno can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Picerno
Destiny Efosa Egharevba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
Picerno supporters have found a favourite in Elia Summa
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Elia Summa 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 dugout23 Nov 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Picerno against Potenza
0‑1 to Potenza, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
In brief
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Squad
Appearance number 100 for Elia Summa
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The form table has caught Jorge Fontemachi
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Gregorio Testa out for 37 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Picerno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 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 Picerno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Nunziante, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Francesco Rillo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Picerno needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Jorge Fontemachi has written the date down.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A wage question at Picerno
Elia Summa has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Elia Summa talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Picerno know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Gregorio Testa out for 45 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Picerno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match7 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for Picerno
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Picerno are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gabriele Bellodi and Picerno agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mamadou Kanouté 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Picerno cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Giovanni Benedetti is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Renato Palumbo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout9 Nov 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
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
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Picerno's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Picerno has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
124% of the income goes out in wages at Picerno
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Jorge Fontemachi
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Picerno will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Picerno than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Gregorio Testa out for 61 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Picerno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Picerno
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.
The dugout26 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sandro Barbieri after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Trapani next, and one man in the Picerno dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
68 days out for Gregorio Testa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Picerno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Giuseppe Guadagni commits to Picerno for another 4 years.
Match17 Oct 2026
Picerno rescue it on 87 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Giugliano had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Elia Summa 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Picerno 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout19 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.” Sandro Barbieri chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Gregorio Testa out for 75 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Picerno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Alessio Baralla is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Maselli and Picerno agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ruggero Catalano has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sandro Zangari has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Picerno
Marco Rossello and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sandro Barbieri after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Gregorio Testa out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Picerno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Picerno
Destiny Efosa Egharevba 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 151% of the Picerno income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuele Esposito, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Andrea Gemignani
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Andrea Gemignani has come out of that comparison in the side, and Picerno have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Jorge Fontemachi
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Picerno, another week without a signature from Destiny Efosa Egharevba.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Picerno
0‑1 against Audace Cerignola, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Gregorio Testa out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Picerno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Picerno
Mamadou Kanouté and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
Monopoli made Picerno work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
He is 23 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 dugout28 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑2, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Gregorio Testa out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Picerno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Sep 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 Picerno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
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
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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sandro Barbieri after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Picerno, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match19 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Picerno?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Casarano? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Picerno has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
106 days out for Gregorio Testa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Picerno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Sep 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Altamura made Picerno work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout14 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Picerno 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
Jorge Fontemachi 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.” Sandro Barbieri kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Picerno have done the hard part with Udinese, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Emmanuele Esposito commits to Picerno for another 2 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Picerno go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Picerno
Mamadou Kanouté and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Como this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Agustín Mello gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Agustín Mello has just signed for Picerno, and for once the answer mattered.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ciro Scalise has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Adriano Villa is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gregorio Testa has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.