Marked for Davide Voltan
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout17 Sep 2029
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The dugout17 Sep 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words exchanged at Lecco
Guillaume Furrer 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arturo Calabresi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
A mark of 7.46, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mattia Vergani commits to Lecco for another 4 years.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
“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 dugout17 Sep 2029
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Giulio Del Vecchio after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Age has not caught Davide Voltan yet — 8.05
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market3 Sep 2029
Only the photograph left for Sean Parker
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sean Parker will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lecco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Lecco 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arturo Calabresi and Lecco agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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 dugout3 Sep 2029
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The terraces3 Sep 2029
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.
Match1 Sep 2029
A 2‑0 win over Alcione Milano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Marked 8.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Aug 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Lecco people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
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Squad20 Aug 2029
A falling-out at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lorenzo Mihali, and the manager let it.
Market20 Aug 2029
The Anas Alaoui talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lecco know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
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 Lorenzo Mihali is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Khazar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Lecco is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2029
$1.9M on the table at Sassuolo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market23 Jul 2029
Andrea Riva hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lecco can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout23 Jul 2029
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Squad23 Jul 2029
At 21 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
A falling-out at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Late improvement for Lukas Sinn
At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
The dugout23 Jul 2029
“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 Jul 2029
Wages eat 102% of everything Lecco earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Lecco and Pisa have settled on $840.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market25 Jun 2029
Andrea Riva hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lecco can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
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Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sassuolo have kept their man, and Lecco go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Anas Alaoui commits to Lecco for another 5 years.
Squad25 Jun 2029
A falling-out at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jun 2029
At 21 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.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
Lukas Sinn 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.
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
96% of the income goes out in wages at Lecco
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jun 2029
Only the photograph left for Sean Parker
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sean Parker will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lecco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Northampton Town have kept their man, and Lecco go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market4 Jun 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Lecco have made the call to Exeter City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Casertana 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 dugout4 Jun 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Lecco, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Lecco can sign again
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 May 2029
“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 Lecco, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout28 May 2029
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Squad28 May 2029
Words exchanged at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Enrico Di Gesù 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.
Boardroom28 May 2029
97% of the income goes out in wages at Lecco
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
The dugout28 May 2029
Andrea Mallamo 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
Crisis
Player ratings7 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Market7 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Sean Parker
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sean Parker will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lecco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout7 May 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lecco may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Davide Voltan commits to Lecco for another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Tempers go at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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.
Match5 May 2029
3 matches without a goal for Lecco
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match5 May 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 May 2029
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oliver Urso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout30 Apr 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Matteo Arena 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.
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
Wages swallow 93% of the Lecco 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.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
7.52, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Lecco had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Sean Parker
“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 ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“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 dugout30 Apr 2029
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Apr 2029
21 goals and a season average of 7.38. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
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Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Lecco
Guillaume Furrer and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces2 Apr 2029
He is 22 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.
Market2 Apr 2029
Davide Voltan is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Lecco has been clear about where Davide Voltan stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Oliver Urso 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Nobody on the pitch touched Anas Alaoui
7.94, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Lecco had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Mar 2029
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
A brace, and Guillaume Furrer takes the afternoon — 8.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Guillaume Furrer provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Age has not caught Davide Voltan yet — 7.95
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match17 Mar 2029
Nobody wants to play Lecco right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enrico Di Gesù was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A season average of 7.26 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Matteo Arena gets it from the manager
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Player ratings
Anas Alaoui runs at them all day
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Mar 2029
Anas Alaoui is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.38 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
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Squad5 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Guillaume Furrer commits to Lecco for another 4 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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 terraces5 Mar 2029
Lecco supporters have found a favourite in Anas Alaoui
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Anas Alaoui 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 ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oliver Urso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lukas Sinn, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Lorenzo Mihali out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lecco will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lecco may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Davide Voltan commits to Lecco for another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match7 Oct 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Anas Alaoui. 1‑0 against Novara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enrico Di Gesù 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.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Marked 8.14 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sean Parker, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Sep 2028
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Cittadella, and it could have been more.
Squad2 Oct 2028
49 days out for Lorenzo Mihali after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lecco will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad2 Oct 2028
The match ball belongs to Anas Alaoui, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Davide Voltan and Lecco agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
A performance of 9.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
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The terraces2 Oct 2028
The crowd has taken to Anas Alaoui
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Sep 2028
The small margins put Lecco out
Out, 0‑1 to Monza, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lecco may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Lorenzo Mihali is a better footballer than he was
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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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.
Match23 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Sep 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 dugout25 Sep 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 Giulio Del Vecchio to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Lukas Sinn dropped after a run of poor form
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
Steady
Squad4 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.23, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Lecco close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 10 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Davide Voltan 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 terraces4 Sep 2028
The crowd has taken to Anas Alaoui
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jacopo Furlan, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
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Match2 Sep 2028
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Anas Alaoui had Lecco level again within 4 minutes, and Giana Erminio never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lecco may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Aug 2028
Sampdoria come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Lecco did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Aug 2028
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.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
$460.0K on the table at Gubbio. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad14 Aug 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 Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Aug 2028
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 5 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Lecco asked and Renate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom14 Aug 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Christian Zaninelli has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Lecco have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Davide Voltan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 May 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.
Squad1 May 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Lecco have had the benefit of it.
Squad1 May 2028
Tempers go at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillaume Furrer 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.
Player ratings1 May 2028
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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Lumezzane left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 May 2028
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Market1 May 2028
No place for Nicola Fasan in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nicola Fasan has his answer from Lecco; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout1 May 2028
Matteo Arena 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
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.95, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Lecco
Guillaume Furrer 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arturo Calabresi 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 terraces24 Apr 2028
He is 21 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 dugout24 Apr 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Three points for Lecco, 1‑0 the final word against Vicenza in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Giulio Del Vecchio on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout10 Apr 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arturo Calabresi 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Lecco
Davide Voltan 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout10 Apr 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 Giulio Del Vecchio to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matteo Martini, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Anas Alaoui 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.
Looking ahead10 Apr 2028
AlbinoLeffe next, and one man in the Lecco dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lecco may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 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 Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillaume Furrer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jacopo Furlan, and the manager let it.
Match25 Mar 2028
A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
7.99, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Lecco had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match25 Mar 2028
Lecco share the spoils with Renate
A 2‑2 draw with Renate leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Giulio Del Vecchio after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Davide Voltan
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Mar 2028
Lecco win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Dolomiti Bellunesi will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market6 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Lecco
Arturo Calabresi 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Davide Voltan and Lecco agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillaume Furrer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces6 Mar 2028
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Market6 Mar 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lecco, another week without a signature from Nicolò Brighenti.
The dugout6 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.” Giulio Del Vecchio kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arturo Calabresi 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Lecco
Davide Voltan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Matteo Arena gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Anas Alaoui 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 Lecco, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Nicola Fasan 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 Nicola Fasan is on it.
Market28 Feb 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Anas Alaoui’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Jan 2028
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Giana Erminio, and it could have been more.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Anas Alaoui, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.73
A mark of 7.73 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Anas Alaoui in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lecco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Lecco
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arturo Calabresi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 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.
The terraces17 Jan 2028
Lecco supporters have found a favourite in Anas Alaoui
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Anas Alaoui 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 ratings17 Jan 2028
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Ninety minutes of Antonio Metlika at his very best
Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Lecco.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
A promise honoured at Lecco
Something was said to Antonio Metlika 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
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Lecco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arturo Calabresi 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.
Match13 Nov 2027
The goals have deserted Lecco
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lecco can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Lecco
Davide Voltan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Lukas Sinn 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 Lukas Sinn is on it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Noah Lovisa
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Match13 Nov 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Renate defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.