Marked for Mirko Miceli
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Up for the corner, and Andrea Valdesi delivers — 7.75
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Andrea Valdesi scored, was marked 7.75, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Ahmed Sidibé 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 Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Adrian Cannavaro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Match24 Feb 2029
Three points for Novara, 3‑2 the final word against Giana Erminio in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match24 Feb 2029
The drought breaks for Novara
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Giana Erminio were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elia Boseggia, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Feb 2029
Novara are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 36 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market5 Feb 2029
“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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Novara close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 3 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.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Roberto Ranieri has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Utrecht keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Novara
Ahmed Sidibé 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.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spezia have kept their man, and Novara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The clock did what Monopoli would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Match3 Feb 2029
0‑1 to Lumezzane, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Jan 2029
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Novara have had the benefit of it.
Match30 Dec 2028
Still nobody has beaten Novara
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A muscle injury sidelines Andrea Valdesi for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Novara will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Ahmed Sidibé 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 Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Adrian Cannavaro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Match30 Dec 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Novara. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Match30 Dec 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Emiliano Pattarello’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Novara.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
7.87, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Novara had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
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.” Sergio Parise kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Oct 2028
A hiding for Novara
Beaten 0‑3 by Dolomiti Bellunesi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad23 Oct 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 Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout23 Oct 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.
Market23 Oct 2028
The name of Andrea Valdesi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Novara say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The plan did not have a place for Roberto Ranieri
Nobody at Novara 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“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 Novara will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 8. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match20 Sep 2028
The cup run ends for Novara
0‑1 against Pianese, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market25 Sep 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Mirko Miceli: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Novara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match23 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Novara's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Novara has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Elia Boseggia
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Novara
Raffaele Sibilio 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.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
A mark of 7.56, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emiliano Pattarello trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“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
Market4 Sep 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 17 in, 18 out at Novara
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 18 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Fiorentina keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A move Tancredi Vella would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tancredi Vella is living that version at Novara, and it tends to show in the first month.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spezia have kept their man, and Novara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Novara
Valerio Aureli 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 dugout4 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Khailoti, and the manager let it.
Match2 Sep 2028
Novara caught on 86 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Renate scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Jul 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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Novara had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lecce, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Roberto Ranieri has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pisa have kept their man, and Novara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taha Zidouh 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.
Squad24 Jul 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 Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Novara have made the call to Hellas Verona. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Bologna: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 May 2028
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eric Lanini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 May 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Novara are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout15 May 2028
Mirko Miceli 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 dugout15 May 2028
Omar Khailoti 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 Omar Khailoti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Novara would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market15 May 2028
“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.
Market15 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Andrea Moretti’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 May 2028
Novara up to position 2
55 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Eric Lanini commits to Novara for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Tempers go at Novara
Mathys Detourbet 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.
Squad8 May 2028
He is 21, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The dugout8 May 2028
This is not rotation. Riccardo Collodel has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eric Lanini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elia Boseggia, and the manager let it.
Market8 May 2028
“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.
The dugout8 May 2028
Omar Khailoti 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
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Novara
Omar Khailoti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Mirko Miceli pulls a muscle — 16 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Adrian Cannavaro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eric Lanini 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 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
Omar Khailoti 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Market27 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marco Da Graca’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Loan watch27 Mar 2028
25 starts now, an average of 6.85, and the team sheet at Lumezzane has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match21 Feb 2028
Novara refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 40 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The dugout21 Feb 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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Da Graca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
Novara asked and OGC Nice said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match19 Feb 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The team sheet said everything about Mirko Miceli
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Mirko Miceli.
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Feb 2028
Whatever happens, Novara 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.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Mattia Malaspina has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Livorno have kept their man, and Novara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Davide Dell'Erba commits to Novara for another 4 years.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Hernán Claro 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Novara
Diogo Medeiros and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2028
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Novara know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Lambertucci, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Half-satisfied: Sergio Parise on the draw
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Feb 2028
No mercy from Novara
Lumezzane will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Novara were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
No sign of nerves from Mathys Detourbet at 20 — 8.04
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mathys Detourbet did not need any: 8.04, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market7 Feb 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Novara close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 5 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.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Roberto Ranieri has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Novara
Omar Khailoti 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.
Transfer targets7 Feb 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.
The terraces7 Feb 2028
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 dugout7 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mirko Miceli, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Top-of-the-table clash for Novara
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Squad
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
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Market
Novara and Elia Boseggia are talking past each other
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Novara
Mathys Detourbet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Mattia Malaspina has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Match11 Dec 2027
Novara come up short against Carpi
Carpi left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mirko Miceli, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Claro 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Sergio Parise to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Omar Khailoti 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Novara lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Nov 2027
Mirko Miceli breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Pietro Casadei
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Novara lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
No sign of nerves from Mathys Detourbet at 20 — 7.81
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mathys Detourbet did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match30 Oct 2027
The wait goes on for Novara
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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Hernán Claro 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Elia Boseggia
“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.
Match30 Oct 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Oct 2027
27 days out for Mirko Miceli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Novara will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Pietro Casadei damages knee ligaments — 39 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Marco Nichetti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Match23 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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 Sergio Parise to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Karim Cardoni
“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 dugout25 Oct 2027
Omar Khailoti 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 Omar Khailoti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Oct 2027
Mirko Miceli breaks a bone — 34 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
No sign of nerves from Mathys Detourbet at 20 — 8.01
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mathys Detourbet did not need any: 8.01, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Novara
Marco Da Graca 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Roberto Ranieri ran the middle of the pitch — 6.84
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 6.84, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Claro 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Santiago Lambertucci and Novara agree another 4 years.
Match16 Oct 2027
A goal on 87 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Match16 Oct 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Lumezzane leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
Mirko Miceli breaks a bone — 43 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Novara may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Novara
Mathys Detourbet 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Adrian Cannavaro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Claro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 Filippo Lorenzini is on it.
Market11 Oct 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marco Da Graca signs something — a contract at Novara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Codruţ Sandu: “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 Novara will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
In brief
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Market
The shop window has Omar Khailoti in it
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Looking ahead
Looking ahead: Lumezzane at home
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Boardroom
The Novara production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mirko Miceli and Novara agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match2 Oct 2027
The run is over for Novara
8 matches without defeat, and then Vicenza. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
A bad afternoon for Novara against Vicenza
0‑1 to Vicenza, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Eric Lanini named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Eric Lanini is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad27 Sep 2027
57 days out for Mirko Miceli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Novara will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match22 Sep 2027
Novara through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Lecco, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match25 Sep 2027
Novara make it 8 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Novara have 8 straight wins of it.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A brace, and Eric Lanini takes the afternoon — 8.95
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eric Lanini provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Alessandro Cortese, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.92
A mark of 7.92 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Marco Nichetti has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hernán Claro and Novara agree another 1 years.
The terraces27 Sep 2027
At 22 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Eric Lanini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Novara.
In brief
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Match
Another one collected away from home
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Squad
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Cristian Samaritani
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad20 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Novara may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match18 Sep 2027
Novara cannot stop winning
6 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.
Market20 Sep 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrea Moretti and Novara agree another 4 years.
Match18 Sep 2027
Novara get the job done against Trento
A 2‑1 win over Trento, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Hernán Claro 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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Hernán Claro 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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Marked 7.81 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Novara had the best player on the pitch.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Tempers go at Novara
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Looking ahead
Andrea Pavanello faces his old club
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad13 Sep 2027
72 days out for Mirko Miceli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Novara will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match11 Sep 2027
Novara make it 5 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Novara have 5 straight wins of it.
Market13 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Novara can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Novara
Marco Da Graca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Novara asked and Avellino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Three points for Novara, 1‑0 the final word against Giana Erminio in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
8 new faces, and Novara 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
Mirko Miceli breaks a bone — 79 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market6 Sep 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Novara close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 7 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Novara
Mathys Detourbet 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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Claro 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Novara can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Avellino 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad30 Aug 2027
86 days out for Mirko Miceli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Novara will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Novara can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Eric Lanini, 33, rolls back the years — 7.87
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match28 Aug 2027
Novara make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Novara have 4 straight wins of it.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Novara have done the hard part with Avellino, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad30 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Adrian Cannavaro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 93 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Novara
Mathys Detourbet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Graduation day at Novara
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Marco Da Graca 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 targets23 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Clermont Foot have kept their man, and Novara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market23 Aug 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Edoardo Alessi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market23 Aug 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gennaro Alessi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market23 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pietro Casadei 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Aug 2027
Mirko Miceli breaks a bone — 101 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Da Graca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Quevilly-Rouen have kept their man, and Novara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Lumezzane to sit and watch. I want to come back to Novara and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A loan move for Yad Lochereau is in the works
Novara have made the call to Clermont Foot. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Sochaux: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market16 Aug 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Elia Boseggia signs something — a contract at Novara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Eyob Zambataro 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 Novara, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad16 Aug 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 Novara have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 108 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Novara can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Novara asked and Sochaux said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davide Dell'Erba and Novara agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
7 new faces, and Novara 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Quevilly-Rouen: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Nicolò Ledonne 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 Novara, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Aug 2027
Mirko Miceli breaks a bone — 115 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The deal with Quevilly-Rouen 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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Novara asked and Lazio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Santiago Lambertucci and Novara agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Elia Boseggia slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Elia Boseggia is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The formation has left Hernán Claro behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Novara will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Novara have made the call to Sochaux. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Nicolò Ledonne 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 Nicolò Ledonne trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market2 Aug 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Santiago Lambertucci’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 123 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Jul 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hernán Claro and Novara agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Da Graca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Empoli have kept their man, and Novara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Novara
Raffaele Sibilio and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Sochaux 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Quevilly-Rouen: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Omar Khailoti 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 Novara, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 131 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Jul 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The deal with Picerno 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Novara
Omar Khailoti 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Livorno wanted more than $240.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
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.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Novara told Omar Khailoti something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Elia Boseggia 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 Elia Boseggia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad19 Jul 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Novara know which stage they are at.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Jul 2027
Mirko Miceli breaks a bone — 139 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 139 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Novara can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
$240.0K on the table at Livorno. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Novara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
This is not rotation. Eyob Zambataro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Novara will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Picerno 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Novara are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Nicolò Ledonne'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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 146 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jul 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Novara sell a favourite for $1.4M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Christian Donadio was one of the reasons people came, and $1.4M does not replace that by itself.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Santiago Lambertucci has, at Novara, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
No thanks: Omar Fayed rejects the move
Novara had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Frosinone, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market5 Jul 2027
Christian Donadio has left for Carrarese in a $1.4M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Novara
Marco Da Graca 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The name of Leonardo D'Alessio has come up in conversations Novara were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Samaritani 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
Upbeat
Squad28 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Mirko Miceli out for 155 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Novara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Market28 Jun 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 Novara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Jun 2027
The name of Christian Donadio has come up in conversations Novara were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Frosinone 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Olympique de Marseille: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan move for Milton Pereyra is in the works
Novara have made the call to Napoli. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filippo Lorenzini, and the manager let it.
Market28 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Novara know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.