Marked for Armando Izzo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Sep 2027
Armando Izzo 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 ratings27 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 8.50 — 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dimitris Sounas, and the manager let it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Viktor Baier lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Dani Gómez leaves them behind him
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market27 Sep 2027
The name of Lorenco Šimić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avellino say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Sep 2027
A one-man rearguard from Viktor Baier
There were 9 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Avellino
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad20 Sep 2027
64 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Pisa made Avellino work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 39, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Avellino may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match11 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Avellino do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 63 days on the sidelines for Giuseppe Panico, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Armando Izzo 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 ratings13 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.73, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match11 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alessio Tribuzzi. 1‑0 against Mantova, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Sep 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market6 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Avellino is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match4 Sep 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Avellino did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
A mark of 7.89, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
The one thing Dani Gómez could not do
Shots: 12, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match4 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Südtirol will be the happier side with the point.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alessandro Fontanarosa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Aug 2027
94 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market23 Aug 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market23 Aug 2027
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Nicolò Giordano is a Avellino player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market23 Aug 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market23 Aug 2027
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Leandro Palumbo is a Avellino player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Aug 2027
Avellino are in real trouble now
Position 19, 37 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Avellino they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market9 Aug 2027
Union Brescia pay $69.0K, 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mattia Destro and Avellino agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market9 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marco Sala’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Avellino
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market2 Aug 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 Avellino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mattia Destro and Avellino agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Aug 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The name of Tommaso Biasci keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avellino say nothing, which says plenty.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Avellino pull $467.4K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market2 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Arthur Spadoni leaves Avellino the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2027
FCSB come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Avellino did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad26 Jul 2027
128 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Bruno Menezes, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market26 Jul 2027
Lumezzane are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Avellino will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Luca Palmiero 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 Avellino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
The interim tag comes off Fabio Chiari
Avellino interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Fabio Chiari keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Avellino may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 124 days on the sidelines for Giuseppe Panico, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market19 Jul 2027
Andrea Favilli has left for Spezia in a $1.8M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
A conversation is coming this week. Avellino will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Avellino have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alessio Tribuzzi commits to Avellino for another 3 years.
Market5 Jul 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Avellino, another week without a signature from Antonio De Cristofaro.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Lorenco Šimić. Avellino will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Avellino may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Genoa pay $130.0K, 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lorenco Šimić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
27 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A wage question at Avellino
Claudio Cristallo has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Avellino
Position 19 and 37 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Avellino still without a manager
13 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Market14 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Avellino will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrea Favilli
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Patrick Enrici 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 Avellino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marco Sala’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Salvatore Sirigu keeps the shirt for now, at Avellino's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
Market7 Jun 2027
$4.0M from Parma for Michele Besaggio. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Manuel Barbieri recited it perfectly.
Market7 Jun 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
32 appearances at Union Brescia and the goals keep coming. Avellino are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad7 Jun 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Patrick Enrici 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The name of Tommaso Biasci keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avellino say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom31 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Avellino
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad31 May 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Milani, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Avellino
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Match1 May 2027
The wait goes on for Avellino
4 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dani Gómez, and the manager let it.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.95 on the card, and the Avellino support went home talking about one name.
Loan watch3 May 2027
30 appearances away from home and 9 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Player ratings3 May 2027
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 terraces3 May 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Dani Gómez
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Avellino can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Armando Izzo 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 ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
It needed Tommaso Biasci to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Cesena, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
The one thing Dani Gómez could not do
Shots: 9, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 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 Avellino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match27 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Avellino's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Avellino has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Andy Diouf 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Marked 8.78 — 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
It needed Michele Besaggio to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Monza, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings29 Mar 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.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
The goals keep arriving from Valerio Crespi’s exile
8 goals in 25 games at Union Brescia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Avellino updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Avellino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Achille Baldi clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Valerio Russo recited it perfectly.
Match6 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Avellino's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Avellino has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Armando Izzo and Avellino agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Andy Diouf 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.75 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antony Iannarilli, and the manager let it.
Match6 Mar 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Reggiana leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A club that lets a breach of discipline pass invites the next one, so a week's wages have gone. The matter is closed, officially at least.
In brief
-
Loan watch
The goals keep arriving from Valerio Crespi’s exile
-
Boardroom
Avellino pull $467.4K back off the table
-
Player ratings
Dani Gómez leaves them behind him
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Avellino can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Andy Diouf 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 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Salvatore Sirigu, and the manager let it.
Match27 Feb 2027
0‑2 to Sampdoria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Dani Gómez 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 Avellino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Avellino lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Marked 5.12, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
Andy Diouf 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Venezia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Luca Palmiero 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 Avellino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
The one thing Dani Gómez could not do
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
The goals keep arriving from Valerio Crespi’s exile
6 goals in 20 games at Union Brescia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Avellino updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Jan 2027
AC Milan ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match25 Jan 2027
Avellino sink to position 18
22 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
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 Avellino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Jan 2027
4 matches without a win for Avellino
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Avellino are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Armando Izzo 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 ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match23 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Mantova, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
109% of the income goes out in wages at Avellino
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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Avellino
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Marked 8.72 — 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 ratings18 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match16 Jan 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Avellino, and it is a cruel one.
Squad18 Jan 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Avellino have made Patrick Enrici available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Armando Izzo 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, Avellino do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad11 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match9 Jan 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Virtus Entella leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market11 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Marco Armellino has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Avellino.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Michele Besaggio 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
Upbeat
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Avellino
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Avellino is running low.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Achille Baldi has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Avellino can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Dani Gómez 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Bari made Avellino work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings4 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Marco Sala
Defensive actions: 40. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
There were 9 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A performance of 9.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 158% of everything Avellino 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Three points for Avellino, 2‑0 the final word against Carrarese in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad28 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
There were 6 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Armando Izzo 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 39 days on the sidelines for Dimitris Sounas, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match28 Nov 2026
Juve Stabia made Avellino work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
191% of the income goes out in wages at Avellino
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.58 — 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 ratings30 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
0‑3 to Modena, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Armando Izzo
“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 ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Avellino dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Avellino lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A mark of 5.55 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A mark of 5.74 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Squad23 Nov 2026
At 32 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Avellino have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Nov 2026
Avellino are in real trouble now
Position 19, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Armando Izzo 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Monza left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 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.
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.69 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.37 — 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 ratings9 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad9 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad9 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and Gennaro Tutino sits out. Avellino lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A defender's afternoon for Luca Palmiero
Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
73 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
191% of the income goes out in wages at Avellino
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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Pescara, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.20 — 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.
Squad2 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Avellino will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Avellino
1‑4 against Spezia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Avellino
7 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Lorenco Šimić
“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.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
The one thing Dani Gómez could not do
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Avellino
A 0‑3 beating by Venezia was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Avellino
6 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
105 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Armando Izzo 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 301% of everything Avellino 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marco Sala, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Avellino dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Avellino
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Avellino are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑2 to Palermo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 61 days on the sidelines for Carlo Mellino, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The one thing Dani Gómez could not do
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
5.65 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Avellino
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Avellino are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Armando Izzo 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 8.50 — 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 ratings21 Sep 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
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tommaso Biasci was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Armando Izzo 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.45 — 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Umberto Volpe, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tommaso Biasci 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tommaso Biasci, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Dani Gómez leaves them behind him
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Match29 Aug 2026
Point won or two lost for Avellino?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Virtus Entella? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michele Besaggio and Avellino agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A wage question at Avellino
Lorenco Šimić has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Armando Izzo and Avellino agree another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Avellino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Armando Izzo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market10 Aug 2026
At 39, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market10 Aug 2026
At 37, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tommaso Biasci and Avellino agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Armando Izzo 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Armando Izzo 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 Armando Izzo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Avellino, another week without a signature from Marco Armellino.
Market3 Aug 2026
Experience through the door at Avellino
Mattia Destro arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.