Marked for Mirco Ceccacci
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Manuel Di Paola ran the middle of the pitch — 6.98
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.98, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Dell'Aquila, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Vis Pesaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Lezcano 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Vis Pesaro are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Nicolò Lari 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 ratings21 Feb 2028
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Luca Paganini 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 Luca Paganini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
Francesco Nicastro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tomás Lezcano 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristiyan Ivanov, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 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 Vis Pesaro, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 Simone Ascione is on it.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Pineto next, and one man in the Vis Pesaro dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Marco Festa wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Vis Pesaro have no good answer.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager makes Simone Rapp a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Vis Pesaro. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tomás Lezcano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Alessandro Ventre 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Michele Rigione's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Leandro Bianco was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Vis Pesaro dressing room was either.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Théo Collin, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match19 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Latina will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
Gubbio next, and one man in the Vis Pesaro dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tommaso Ferrari 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vis Pesaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcello Piras, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Pineto in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Francesco Nicastro has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Vis Pesaro asked and Godoy Cruz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match29 Aug 2026
Torres left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Vis Pesaro hit back inside 3 minutes
Torres held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Vis Pesaro answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Vis Pesaro
12 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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 1‑2 Leandro Bianco left the room before anybody could ask which.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Gimnasia y Esgrima have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Denis Tonucci is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.