Marked for Gianmario Comi
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Jan 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 17 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Pro Vercelli close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 0 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Lorenzo Cancila 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 Feb 2027
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Lecco left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Looking ahead1 Feb 2027
Top-of-the-table clash for Pro Vercelli
Vicenza next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Nicolò Vaccarezza has come up in conversations Pro Vercelli were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Jan 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 17 matches without defeat is a foundation Pro Vercelli did not have in the autumn.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Südtirol waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Gianmario Comi, 34, rolls back the years — 7.92
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad25 Jan 2027
19 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Alessandro Livieri has given nobody the chance.
Match23 Jan 2027
Pro Vercelli make home a hard place to visit
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Dean Huiberts 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Leonardo Piran 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Three points for Pro Vercelli, 1‑0 the final word against Pro Patria in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match16 Jan 2027
The unbeaten run reaches 16. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Pro Vercelli people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Gianmario Comi, 34, rolls back the years — 7.89
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market18 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Pro Vercelli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nicolò Vaccarezza has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Renso Pérez 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Pro Vercelli make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Dec 2026
Whatever happens, Pro Vercelli do not lose
12 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Gianmario Comi takes the afternoon — 8.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gianmario Comi provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Leonardo Piran 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
15 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Lorenzo Cancila 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
A 2‑0 win over Dolomiti Bellunesi, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout21 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Dec 2026
Whatever happens, Pro Vercelli do not lose
11 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Renso Pérez beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market7 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pietro Passador will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pro Vercelli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Renso Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
14 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Match5 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Gianmario Comi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Pro Vercelli.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cristiano Furno and Pro Vercelli agree another 3 years.
In brief
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Player ratings
The afternoon belonged to Gianmario Comi
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Cristiano Furno dropped after a run of poor form
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Nov 2026
Whatever happens, Pro Vercelli do not lose
10 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pro Vercelli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dean Huiberts 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 147% of the Pro Vercelli 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Pro Vercelli told Gianmario Comi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Damián Gómez
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristiano Furno, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Gianmario Comi, 34, rolls back the years — 7.93
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Renso Pérez 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Rutigliano, and the manager let it.
Match24 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gianmario Comi. 1‑0 against Alcione Milano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“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 Pro Vercelli will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Giana Erminio in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 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 Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nicolò Vaccarezza is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Arzignano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.56. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Damián Gómez 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
The dugout19 Oct 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 Pro Vercelli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pietro Passador will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pro Vercelli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dean Huiberts 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonardo Piran 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 dugout12 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.
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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Gianmario Comi 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 Pro Vercelli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
Stefano Chessa damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Renso Pérez 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 Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 197% of the Pro Vercelli 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
The manager makes an example of Damián Gómez
“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.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Lumezzane, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.76, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout5 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leonardo Piran was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Sep 2026
Lecco left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
The leaders are next for Pro Vercelli
Vicenza top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
Squad21 Sep 2026
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Mohamed Mallahi has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Vicenza in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market14 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pietro Passador will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pro Vercelli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match12 Sep 2026
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lorenzo Cancila and Pro Vercelli agree another 3 years.
Market14 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Nicolò Vaccarezza to Trapani has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Pro Vercelli with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 2‑0 win over Pro Patria, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout14 Sep 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Mariano Romano could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market7 Sep 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Pro Vercelli people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Pro Vercelli 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Renso Pérez 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 Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui 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 terraces7 Sep 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Lorenzo Cancila’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Pro Vercelli.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Pro Vercelli have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The dugout7 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
412 appearances across 10 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Pro Vercelli know what they have.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Achraf el Bouchataoui and Pro Vercelli agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ilario Iotti 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.
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
Still no offer on the table, and Achraf el Bouchataoui’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.