Marked for Eric Lanini
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Aug 2028
Novara up to position 2
54 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad14 Aug 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.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Crotone wanted more than $110.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets14 Aug 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 dugout14 Aug 2028
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.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
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.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Sarp Ayasulu
“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 dugout14 Aug 2028
Riccardo Collodel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novara will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market14 Aug 2028
The Eric Lanini talk will not go away
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Jul 2028
Novara refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 54 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mateo Rodríguez commits to Novara for another 4 years.
Squad17 Jul 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Barcelona 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 targets17 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Benfica: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
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.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Riccardo Collodel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novara will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Elia Boseggia 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
Uneasy
Match19 Jun 2028
Novara refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 54 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The paperwork is done: Daniel Ndulue joins from Genoa in a deal worth $380.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad19 Jun 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Catanzaro paid $240.0K and Novara took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The terraces19 Jun 2028
Novara spend $380.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $380.0K for Daniel Ndulue, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Novara asked and Sassuolo 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 dugout19 Jun 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.
The dugout19 Jun 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 May 2028
Novara up to position 2
54 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market22 May 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.
Squad22 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolò Ledonne and Novara agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad22 May 2028
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.
The dugout22 May 2028
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 Riccardo Collodel is on it.
The dugout22 May 2028
Elia Boseggia 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
Uneasy
Match24 Apr 2028
Novara refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 54 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
Mohamad Makhlouf: 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.
The dugout24 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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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 Riccardo Collodel is on it.
Market24 Apr 2028
The Eric Lanini talk will not go away
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match27 Mar 2028
Novara refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 52 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.
Market27 Mar 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 Novara can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
A promise honoured at Novara
Something was said to Nicolò Ledonne and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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
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 Riccardo Collodel is on it.
Market27 Mar 2028
The Eric Lanini talk will not go away
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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Looking ahead: Carpi at home
A side in position 10 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
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Age has not caught Eric Lanini yet — 7.82
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad20 Mar 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
Novara caught on 87 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Cittadella scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The dugout20 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
It needed Eric Lanini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Cittadella, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Paolo Farina after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Eyob Zambataro has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novara will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 Mar 2028
3‑0, and Eric Lanini took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Novara tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market13 Mar 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Novara
Omar Khailoti 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alessio Rizzo and Novara agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The terraces13 Mar 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.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Roberto Ranieri was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad13 Mar 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
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.” Paolo Farina kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Feb 2028
Novara up to position 2
47 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A move Andrea Gualdi 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. Andrea Gualdi is living that version at Novara, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match26 Feb 2028
0‑1 to Giana Erminio, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 Paolo Farina to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Novara told Adrian Cannavaro something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Citi, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad28 Feb 2028
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Novara lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 Riccardo Collodel is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Jan 2028
Novara are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 41 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AC Milan keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market31 Jan 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 Novara can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jan 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Eric Lanini 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.
Match29 Jan 2028
Novara rescue it on 89 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Vicenza had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Market31 Jan 2028
Monza are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Novara will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Torino 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 dugout31 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Riccardo Collodel, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Jan 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 Novara can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad24 Jan 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrea Moretti and Novara agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Eric Lanini 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 targets24 Jan 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.
Looking ahead24 Jan 2028
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Novara have made the call to Heracles. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces17 Jan 2028
Supporters turn on the $610.0K sale of Federico Brancolini
He is going to Catanzaro, the club has $610.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Cesena; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
The deal with Empoli 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
Catanzaro pay $610.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Novara asked and Hellas Verona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match15 Jan 2028
Novara are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match15 Jan 2028
Three points for Novara, 1‑0 the final word against Pro Vercelli in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mattia Caporale and Novara agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Jan 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 Novara can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The deal with Cesena 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.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Raffaele Sibilio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Da Graca 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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Novara asked and Benevento 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 dugout10 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Eric Lanini
“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.
Match8 Jan 2028
A bad afternoon for Novara against Renate
0‑1 to Renate, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Novara know it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Age has not caught Eric Lanini yet — 7.83
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Valdesi, and the manager let it.
Match25 Dec 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Eric Lanini. 1‑0 against Arzignano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Looking ahead27 Dec 2027
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Novara will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Novara
Raffaele Sibilio 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.
Match27 Dec 2027
Novara at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 2, 33 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Squad27 Dec 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Simone Foti and Novara agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Paolo Farina could afford to be generous.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Eyob Zambataro has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novara will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market20 Dec 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.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.82, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
7.85, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad20 Dec 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.
Match18 Dec 2027
AlbinoLeffe made Novara work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Paolo Farina could afford to be generous.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gianmarco Basso, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Alessandro Cortese 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 Dec 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 Raffaele Sibilio is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
At 36, 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.
Match11 Dec 2027
Eric Lanini scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Carpi, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“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 dugout13 Dec 2027
“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 ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Cortese 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
Davide Dell'Erba has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novara will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Looking ahead13 Dec 2027
AlbinoLeffe next, and one man in the Novara dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.86, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match27 Nov 2027
Still nobody has beaten Novara
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match27 Nov 2027
Ospitaletto made Novara work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
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 dugout29 Nov 2027
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.” Paolo Farina kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Cortese 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
Eyob Zambataro has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novara will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Novara have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces22 Nov 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Leonardo D'Alessio 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Eric Lanini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Novara.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Marked 7.96. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Alessandro Cortese 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market22 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Andrea Valdesi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 Nov 2027
Novara refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 18 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leonardo D'Alessio and Novara agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Novara know it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Novara have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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 dugout8 Nov 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Paolo Farina after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
7.72, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad1 Nov 2027
40 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match30 Oct 2027
Novara make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Novara have 3 straight wins of it.
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.
Match30 Oct 2027
Pergolettese made Novara work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces1 Nov 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicolò Ledonne 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.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Marked 7.74 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Novara had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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.” Paolo Farina kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Eyob Zambataro has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
No place in the plan for Mirko Miceli
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Oct 2027
No mercy from Novara
Dolomiti Bellunesi 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 ratings25 Oct 2027
A brace, and Eric Lanini takes the afternoon — 8.64
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eric Lanini provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad25 Oct 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mattia Caporale and Novara agree another 3 years.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Paolo Farina could afford to be generous.
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.
The dugout25 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Oct 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
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
Vicenza left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
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 1‑2 Paolo Farina left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Marco Da Graca. Novara will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
A promise honoured at Novara
Something was said to Eyob Zambataro and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
$650.0K on the table at Cagliari. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Novara asked and Venezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to NK Maribor: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A loan move for Svit Hočevar is in the works
Novara have made the call to NK Maribor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Riccardo Collodel, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamad Makhlouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market16 Aug 2027
Eric Lanini linked with a move away
The name of Eric Lanini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Novara say nothing, which says plenty.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 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 targets19 Jul 2027
Livorno wanted more than $47.0K 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
The manager makes an example of Andrea Moretti
“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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A loan move for Gijs Besselink is in the works
Novara have made the call to Twente. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
EA Guingamp 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 dugout19 Jul 2027
A promise honoured at Novara
Something was said to Nicolò Ledonne and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Novara
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Cortese was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Novara will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad5 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 targets5 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 dugout5 Jul 2027
A promise honoured at Novara
Something was said to Andrea Valdesi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohamad Makhlouf and Novara agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Novara academy
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The dugout5 Jul 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.
Squad5 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Andrea Valdesi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Christian Donadio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 Jun 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 targets14 Jun 2027
Novara asked and Lecce 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Marco Nichetti
“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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan move for Maxima Goffi is in the works
Novara have made the call to LOSC Lille. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Novara told Riccardo Arboscello something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout17 May 2027
This is not rotation. Christian Donadio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 May 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.
The dugout17 May 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.
Market17 May 2027
The Eric Lanini story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eric Lanini signs something — a contract at Novara or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout17 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market17 May 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Christian Donadio may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Apr 2027
Full time on the season at Novara
Position 11 on 36 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Christian Donadio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Novara is pretending otherwise.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Novara may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Apr 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
0‑1 to Dolomiti Bellunesi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Apr 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
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 0‑1 Paolo Farina left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market19 Apr 2027
Eric Lanini linked with a move away
The name of Eric Lanini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Novara say nothing, which says plenty.
Market19 Apr 2027
Novara have made Christian Donadio available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Novara may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Novara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Da Graca 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Novara know it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Novara told Roberto Ranieri something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Match13 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Riccardo Arboscello, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
Match13 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Novara
5 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.
Squad15 Feb 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
0‑2 to Union Brescia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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 0‑2 Paolo Farina left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Elia Boseggia 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Marco Romano has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novara will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Looking ahead15 Feb 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Arzignano in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Match6 Feb 2027
4 matches without a win for Novara
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Novara are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrea Valdesi and Novara agree another 4 years.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Squad8 Feb 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Half-satisfied: Paolo Farina on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Andrea Valdesi 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 Andrea Valdesi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets18 Jan 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A loan move for Omar Fayed is in the works
Novara have made the call to Frosinone. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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 dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paolo Farina was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Novara dressing room was either.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
One booking too many, and Christian Donadio sits out. Novara lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. 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
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
Match19 Dec 2026
0‑2 to AlbinoLeffe, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout21 Dec 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 0‑2 Paolo Farina left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout21 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Novara lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Market21 Dec 2026
The Eric Lanini talk will not go away
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.
Market21 Dec 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Christian Donadio may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match12 Dec 2026
At last: Novara win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Carpi. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Adriano Rossetti 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gianmarco Tarantino is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Eric Lanini. 1‑0 against Carpi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Riccardo Arboscello and Novara agree another 3 years.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
7.75, 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Paolo Farina on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Alessandro Citi
“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.