Marked for Flavio Paoletti
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Jul 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
The medical room confirms 65 days on the sidelines for Michel Panatti, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Leonardo Mancuso 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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yassin Banna and Mantova agree another 4 years.
Market8 Jul 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lukas Rosengren has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mantova.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jun 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maksym Vorobiey and Mantova agree another 4 years.
Market17 Jun 2030
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market17 Jun 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad17 Jun 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad17 Jun 2030
A new face in his position, and Simone Trimboli suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Mantova have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Jun 2030
93 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market10 Jun 2030
The paperwork is done: Maksym Vorobiey joins from Lumezzane in a deal worth $360.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Giovanni Bonfanti 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 May 2030
21 goals and a season average of 8.04. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match18 May 2030
Juve Stabia will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Mantova were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad20 May 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 May 2030
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 ratings20 May 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings20 May 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings20 May 2030
A performance of 9.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad20 May 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Wieser, and the manager let it.
Squad20 May 2030
Leonardo Mancuso asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Apr 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mantova can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Apr 2030
Enea Pitti has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mantova they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Simone Trimboli 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 Apr 2030
“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.
Match27 Apr 2030
Reggiana left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Apr 2030
50 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Apr 2030
There were 8 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Apr 2030
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Marked 8.32 — 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 ratings22 Apr 2030
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Wieser, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
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.
Market22 Apr 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simone Trimboli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jan 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Davide Bragantini
15 goals and a season average of 8.00 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad28 Jan 2030
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.
Market28 Jan 2030
The paperwork is done: Flavio Ferrari joins from Bologna in a deal worth $790.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Simone Trimboli 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.
Market28 Jan 2030
Atalanta are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mantova will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Jan 2030
Three points for Mantova, 2‑1 the final word against Sassuolo in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Jan 2030
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Dec 2029
Leonardo Mancuso 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 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Federico Pace
“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.
Match29 Dec 2029
Modena left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Marked 8.08 — 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 ratings31 Dec 2029
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 ratings31 Dec 2029
Shots: 14, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Shots: 8. 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.
Market31 Dec 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mantova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad31 Dec 2029
David Wieser 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 Mantova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniele Celiento, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Dec 2029
7 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.80 on the card, and the Mantova support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match22 Dec 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Padova defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market24 Dec 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Leonardo Mancuso’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Nov 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market19 Nov 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mantova is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Giovanni Bonfanti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Nov 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match17 Nov 2029
Virtus Entella left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Flavio Paoletti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Nov 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ettore Gliozzi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Aug 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch20 Aug 2029
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mantova and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Market20 Aug 2029
Avellino are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Mantova will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market20 Aug 2029
The name of Davide Bragantini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Flavio Paoletti asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Aug 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mantova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Tommaso Marras 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.
Market13 Aug 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mantova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market13 Aug 2029
Mantova have let the market know Daniele Celiento can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Somebody else's move, somebody else's headline. What it left at Mantova is an empty peg and a footballer who keeps glancing at it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Jul 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mantova, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Simone Trimboli 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mantova know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad16 Jul 2029
A wage question at Mantova
Leonardo Stanzani 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Ludovico Baruzzi Ungari leaves Mantova the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
Mantova keep producing them
15 graduates from an academy now rated 7 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Jan 2029
“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.
Market15 Jan 2029
The fee is $190.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Salernitana drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A season average of 7.47 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Flavio Paoletti and Mantova agree another 4 years.
Squad15 Jan 2029
César Falletti 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
Add another name to the list: Dolomiti Bellunesi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Yassin Banna. The answer from Mantova has not changed — yet.
Match13 Jan 2029
Mantova come up short against Bari
Bari left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Wieser, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Leonardo Mancuso 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 ratings18 Sep 2028
Marked 9.22 — 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.
Match16 Sep 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Davide Bragantini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mantova.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Marked 8.15 — 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 Sep 2028
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Wieser, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Sep 2028
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Mantova have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Market18 Sep 2028
The name of Ettore Gliozzi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mantova say nothing, which says plenty.