Marked for Vito Leonetti
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Casarano
Karlo Lulić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Casarano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yorkman Tello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Nov 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Vincenzo Ferrara has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Casarano.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gaetano Logoluso, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Vito Leonetti 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The plan did not have a place for Cosimo Chiricò
Nobody at Casarano 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Picerno came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Cosenza, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Casarano
Federico Giraudo 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Niccolò Zanellato, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Casarano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gaetano Logoluso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The plan did not have a place for Vito Leonetti
Nobody at Casarano 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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Altamura in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Niccolò Chiorra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Casarano
Karlo Lulić 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Cosimo Patierno scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Sorrento, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Borna Knezović ran the middle of the pitch — 6.81
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.81, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Casarano have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Cosimo Chiricò’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Casarano needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 9. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Casarano 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
A falling-out at Casarano
Federico Giraudo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Pietro Ciotti has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Casarano will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Niccolò Zanellato has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Casarano turn down the training-ground plan
It is the quietest way a club tells you what its ambitions are. The money was asked for, the money was refused, and the people who work there every day now know exactly where they stand.
Looking ahead24 Aug 2026
Potenza next, and one man in the Casarano dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Looking ahead24 Aug 2026
Looking ahead: Potenza at home
A side in position 15 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cosimo Patierno and Casarano agree another 1 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Casarano
Federico Giraudo 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 targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panathinaikos have kept their man, and Casarano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nicola D'Angelo 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sandro Parisi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Orazio Negri is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.