Marked for Michele Calì
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Renate
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Renate until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market1 Feb 2027
The deal that would have taken Andrea Bartoccioni to Campobasso has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Renate with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Renate
Filippo Vesentini 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 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Vassallo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Renate 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
11 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Tommaso Nobile has given nobody the chance.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Renate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.72 for the rest of it.
Match23 Jan 2027
The run at home goes on for Renate
11 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óttar Magnús Karlsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Renate
Filippo Vesentini 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 terraces25 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Andrea Bonetti 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Three points for Renate, 2‑0 the final word against Cittadella in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Bonetti, and the manager let it.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. 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
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 Renate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Vassallo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 133% of the Renate 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lorenzo De Leo, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Mbarick Fall is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Alcione Milano had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Renate did not stop to explain themselves.
Market21 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Clementi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Renate the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody wins at Renate
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Francesco Vassallo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match19 Dec 2026
Three points for Renate, 2‑1 the final word against Alcione Milano in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Renate
Lorenzo De Leo 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Michele Calì
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.93 on the card, and the Renate support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrea Bonetti
“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 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Stefano Rossi after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Arzignano will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Renate know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Renate
13 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.
Match23 Nov 2026
Renate sink to position 18
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market23 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Clementi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Renate the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Martín Suárez 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Vassallo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Nov 2026
Renate rescue it on 93 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Vicenza had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Michele Calì
“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.
Match21 Nov 2026
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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francesco Vassallo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Renate's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Renate has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Renate can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Renate
Martín Suárez 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. 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
Uneasy
Match31 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for Renate
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Renate are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.93, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Vassallo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Vassallo, and the manager let it.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 130% of everything Renate 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Renate, another week without a signature from Francesco Vassallo.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match31 Oct 2026
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Stefano Rossi chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Mbarick Fall's mistake
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Squad
The armband comes off Michele Calì
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Squad
A Renate teenager takes the young player award
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Renate
9 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 7.60 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Clementi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Renate the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Francesco Vassallo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Renate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Michele Calì
“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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Stefano Rossi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Renate
8 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Simone Suppa 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrei Moţoc and Renate agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Renate
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Vassallo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Andrei Moţoc 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AlbinoLeffe in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Sep 2026
The small margins put Renate out
Out, 1‑1 to Campobasso, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Match23 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Renate
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.
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Renate is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Renate
Martín Suárez 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Renate training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Vassallo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
He is 18 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Michele Calì 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
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
“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 Renate, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: San Lorenzo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Francesco Vassallo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match12 Sep 2026
Renate cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Door shut on Viery
Renate asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrei Moţoc, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.