Marked for Stefano Marchetti
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pro Vercelli can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Mattia Rutigliano has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Fiorentina is saying, and nobody at Pro Vercelli is enjoying the guessing.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samy Kehli and Pro Vercelli agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrea Mattioli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Pro Vercelli asked and Venezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Emiliano Pino was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Jul 2028
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Pro Vercelli know which stage they are at.
Market3 Jul 2028
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout10 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Mattia Rutigliano has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Luca Coccolo 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 Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lorenzo Cancila and Pro Vercelli agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fady Khatir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Vincenzo Paro to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
No place for Ilario Iotti on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Pro Vercelli pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Loan watch10 Apr 2028
28 appearances at Pineto and the goals keep coming. Pro Vercelli are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout13 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Mattia Rutigliano has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Dean Huiberts 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
1‑3 to Novara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilario Iotti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Samy Kehli 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Luca Magnino 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 Luca Magnino is on it.
Loan watch13 Mar 2028
25 appearances at Pineto and the goals keep coming. Pro Vercelli are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Looking ahead13 Mar 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Stefano Marchetti’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Pro Vercelli needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Feb 2028
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Renate will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market21 Feb 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pro Vercelli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market21 Feb 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Pro Vercelli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
7.59, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Clemente Perotti has agreed terms with Pescara for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Match19 Feb 2028
A 2‑1 win over Renate, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad21 Feb 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 Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces21 Feb 2028
The crowd has taken to Zanga Koné
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
The deal with Bologna is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Market7 Feb 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Pro Vercelli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Window shuts: 1 in, 3 out at Pro Vercelli
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Feb 2028
So close: Junior Ajayi’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Foggia moved on, Junior Ajayi reports back to Pro Vercelli, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Millwall have kept their man, and Pro Vercelli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
The window shuts on the Gastón Pérez deal
Pro Vercelli ran out of time with Casertana. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Emiliano Pino 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fady Khatir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
The form table has caught Ángel Viotti
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Dec 2027
Giana Erminio will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Pro Vercelli were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Gianmario Comi, 35, rolls back the years — 8.12
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.12 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Pro Vercelli — 7.80
1 for Stefano Marchetti, marked 7.80, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Zanga Koné 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Angelo Burruano has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending otherwise.
Match27 Dec 2027
Half the programme played, position 6, 24 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Fady Khatir 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Dec 2027
Junior Ajayi 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 Pro Vercelli can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Mattia Rutigliano has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Dec 2027
0‑1 to Pergolettese, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilario Iotti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jegors Olijars, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Vincenzo Paro left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Ángel Viotti 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
One booking too many, and Gabriël Misehouy sits out. Pro Vercelli lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Nov 2027
1‑1 against Bologna, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad8 Nov 2027
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Up for the corner, and Stefano Marchetti delivers — 7.72
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Stefano Marchetti scored, was marked 7.72, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Emiliano Pino 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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonardo Piran, and the manager let it.
Match6 Nov 2027
A 1‑0 win over Carpi, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilario Iotti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Nov 2027
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bologna scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Ilario Iotti 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luca Coccolo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lorenzo Moschetta and Pro Vercelli agree another 4 years.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Rodrigo Godoy slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rodrigo Godoy is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Pro Vercelli told Clemente Perotti something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Angelo Burruano has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending otherwise.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Livieri, and the manager let it.
Match23 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Something was said to Alessandro Livieri and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fady Khatir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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 Vincenzo Paro to a room that had heard them before.
Squad25 Oct 2027
One booking too many, and Gabriël Misehouy sits out. Pro Vercelli lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Squad25 Oct 2027
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Gabriël Misehouy has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
443 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 13 in, 10 out at Pro Vercelli
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Dean Huiberts 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 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lorenzo Moschetta is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rodrigo Godoy and Pro Vercelli agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Pro Vercelli asked and BK Hacken said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout6 Sep 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.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Pro Vercelli, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Jun 2027
50 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market28 Jun 2027
Fady Khatir 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 Pro Vercelli can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Pro Vercelli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olympique de Marseille keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Dean Huiberts and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KV Kortrijk have kept their man, and Pro Vercelli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Pro Vercelli know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 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 Pro Vercelli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pro Vercelli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Rodrigo Godoy 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 Jun 2027
Something was said to Alessandro Livieri and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fady Khatir is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to KV Kortrijk: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daouda Fofana, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Jun 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 Pro Vercelli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ouseynou Sow, and the manager let it.
Squad10 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fady Khatir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
A season on the outside for Junior Ajayi
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Pro Vercelli has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout10 May 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
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 Apr 2027
Rodrigo Godoy 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stefano Marchetti, and the manager let it.
Market26 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dean Huiberts’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Clemente Perotti has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Pro Vercelli will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Antonio Satriano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Dean Huiberts and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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 terraces12 Apr 2027
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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gianmario Comi. 2‑0 against Pergolettese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout12 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.
Player ratings12 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.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The team sheet said everything about Stefano Marchetti
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Stefano Marchetti.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match20 Mar 2027
There were 85 minutes on the clock and AlbinoLeffe had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Pro Vercelli did not stop to explain themselves.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Elijah Scott is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Elijah Scott 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 Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Mar 2027
AlbinoLeffe made Pro Vercelli work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout22 Mar 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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 7.88 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Pro Vercelli had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Rodrigo Godoy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match13 Mar 2027
0‑2 to Novara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Livieri, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Pro Vercelli would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market15 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Pro Vercelli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Dean Huiberts and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Livieri, and the manager let it.
Match13 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Fady Khatir 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“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 dugout15 Feb 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Pro Vercelli told Mattia Rutigliano something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Looking ahead15 Feb 2027
Renate next, and one man in the Pro Vercelli dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Rodrigo Godoy 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Pro Vercelli would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pro Vercelli have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer from Rukh for Junior Ajayi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
7.69, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Atalanta, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market8 Feb 2027
The deal that would have taken Pietro Passador to Picerno has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Pro Vercelli with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad8 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pro Vercelli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Pro Vercelli asked and Torino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match6 Feb 2027
A 1‑0 win over Arzignano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Dean Huiberts 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 Dec 2026
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 dugout28 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 133% of the Pro Vercelli 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.
Match28 Dec 2026
Position 4, 26 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
7.97, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Pro Vercelli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Rodrigo Godoy 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 dugout7 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Ilario Iotti
7.59, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Pro Vercelli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Vincenzo Paro could afford to be generous.
Market7 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Achraf el Bouchataoui signs something — a contract at Pro Vercelli or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pro Vercelli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
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 7.84 for the rest of it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Godoy 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 terraces30 Nov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
A 2‑0 win over Novara, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match28 Nov 2026
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Novara. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 126% of everything Pro Vercelli 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Vincenzo Paro could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Rodrigo Godoy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gianmario Comi, and the manager let it.
Match24 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Alcione Milano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Pro Vercelli are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I watch every Pro Vercelli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Alcione Milano runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Ángel Viotti out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pro Vercelli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Elijah Scott is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dean Huiberts 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Pro Vercelli 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Pro Vercelli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Achraf el Bouchataoui 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
166% of the income goes out in wages at Pro Vercelli
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 dugout5 Oct 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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vincenzo Paro was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Pro Vercelli dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Ángel Viotti out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pro Vercelli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
No thanks: Davinchi rejects the move
Pro Vercelli had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Girona, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dean Huiberts 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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf el Bouchataoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ospitaletto made Pro Vercelli work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Dean Huiberts was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout14 Sep 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Pro Vercelli will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.