Marked for Daniel Cappelletti
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Campobasso can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout15 May 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Alessandro Zanoli was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Campobasso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Stoppa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Cappelletti, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 May 2028
Matteo Stoppa gets picked when it counts
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 Matteo Stoppa is on it.
The dugout15 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alfredo Bifulco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 May 2028
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Campobasso says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Squad15 May 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Campobasso would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Campobasso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match8 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Campobasso
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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Forli left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 Apr 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Campobasso can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Manuel Pisano 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Damien Dussaut 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Campobasso's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Campobasso has to find a result from somewhere.
Market28 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 Campobasso, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 Feb 2028
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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Emmanuele Salines and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Campobasso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Pisano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Campobasso pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout28 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.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Silvio D'Angelo was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Campobasso dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Feb 2028
4 matches without a win for Campobasso
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Campobasso are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Feb 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 Campobasso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Campobasso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matteo Stoppa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Zanoli, and the manager let it.
Match12 Feb 2028
Vicenza left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Silvio D'Angelo after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Campobasso 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Campobasso will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces29 Mar 2027
The mood at Vicenza has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match29 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Vicenza
Position 20 and 18 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout29 Mar 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Vicenza
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Chiarello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Riccardo Chiarello, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Samuele Picardi commits to Vicenza for another 3 years.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“I watch every Vicenza game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at HJK runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market29 Mar 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Vicenza has been clear about where Daniel Cappelletti stands, which is more than many ever get.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alessandro Bellemo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Vicenza needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Vicenza's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Vicenza has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Giorgio Basile has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Vicenza can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Feb 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 Vicenza can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Vicenza asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Feb 2027
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Loris Zonta
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Lorenzo Caferri 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
Riccardo Gagno is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Vicenza
18 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 terraces1 Feb 2027
The mood at Vicenza has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Vicenza
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Vicenza is running low.
Match1 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Vicenza
Position 20 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market1 Feb 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 Vicenza, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Vicenza 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Vicenza's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Vicenza has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Albert Gashi out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vicenza will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Dec 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 Vicenza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 120% of the Vicenza 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Vicenza rescue it on 89 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Südtirol had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Lorenzo Caferri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.83 on the card, and the Vicenza support went home talking about one name.
Match26 Dec 2026
It needed Nicola Rauti to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Südtirol, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout28 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 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
Raul Talarico damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
1‑4 to Padova, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Vicenza's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Vicenza has to find a result from somewhere.
Market23 Nov 2026
Marco Carraro has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Vicenza they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match21 Nov 2026
Vicenza leaking at the back
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Market23 Nov 2026
Loris Zonta is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Vicenza has been clear about where Loris Zonta stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout23 Nov 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.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Vicenza dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑4 Giorgio Basile left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Vicenza against Mantova
1‑2 to Mantova, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Vicenza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lorenzo Caferri 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 dugout19 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Cappelletti, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 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 ahead19 Oct 2026
Hellas Verona next, and one man in the Vicenza dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market19 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Maxime Leverbe’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Vicenza that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Marco Carraro has come up in conversations Vicenza were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Vicenza asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Aug 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Vicenza are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Vicenza
Armand Rada 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
Sassuolo 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 targets10 Aug 2026
Dinamo Zagreb 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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Loris Zonta
“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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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 Vicenza would admit. It shows on Saturdays.