Marked for Francesco Vassallo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Francesco Vassallo 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Renate, and 1 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Nov 2026
The small margins put Renate out
Out, 0‑1 to Palermo, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.23 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Mateo Tanlongo 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo 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 terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Lorenzo De Leo 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 1‑0 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Novara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Renate and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Renate do not lose
9 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Mateo Tanlongo 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 Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Renate told Mateo Tanlongo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad26 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Oct 2026
The 89th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Joseph Ekuban decided nobody was going anywhere. Virtus Verona had no time left to answer.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Paolo Gardoni goes up and wins it — 7.38
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.38 for the rest of it.
Match17 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Renate do not lose
8 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.
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 Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Francesco Vassallo 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over Virtus Verona, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Paolo Gardoni 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
Cup progress for Renate
A 1‑0 win over Campobasso, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Mateo Tanlongo 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo 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 terraces28 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Lorenzo De Leo 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 39 days on the sidelines for Mbarick Fall, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gianluca Esposito
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renate lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Mateo Tanlongo 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo 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.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Renate game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Novara runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mbarick Fall 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Gianluca Esposito damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Squad7 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 Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Francesco Vassallo 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateo Tanlongo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Ospitaletto will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gianluca Esposito
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Renate lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renate can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Renate
3 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Francesco Vassallo 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Claudio Silvestri has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market24 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Armando Bruni 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
Steady
Squad17 Aug 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 Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Lorenzo De Leo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Renate say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 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 Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Renate, another week without a signature from Francesco Vassallo.
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Óttar Magnús Karlsson’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Andrea Delcarro has seen what the next man earns
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 Renate that is a harder question to answer.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Questions about Lorenzo De Leo on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrea Delcarro commits to Renate for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Andrea Delcarro 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Francesco Vassallo 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.