Marked for Daniel Leo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Apr 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
Daniel Leo goes up and wins it — 7.78
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 7.78 for the rest of it.
Match12 Apr 2031
The wait goes on for Crotone
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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
King Udoh 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enrico Brignola 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.
Match12 Apr 2031
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Walter Guerra, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Apr 2031
King Udoh is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.28 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Loan watch14 Apr 2031
“I did not go to Casertana to sit and watch. I want to come back to Crotone and fight for my place.” 13 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Feb 2031
King Udoh 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Manuel Tonni gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Manuel Tonni has just signed for Crotone, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Enrico Brignola 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.
Boardroom17 Feb 2031
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Brian Okoth has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Crotone have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets17 Feb 2031
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.
Match15 Feb 2031
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
Nobody could get near Daniel Leo
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Feb 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Manuel Tonni commits to Crotone for another 3 years.
Match15 Feb 2031
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings13 Jan 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match11 Jan 2031
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Giugliano had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Crotone did not stop to explain themselves.
Market13 Jan 2031
“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 Jan 2031
Marco Zunno is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.57 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
The clubs have shaken hands with Monza; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Match11 Jan 2031
Crotone make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Crotone have 4 straight wins of it.
Player ratings13 Jan 2031
Daniel Leo runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
Crotone asked and Inter said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Claudio Lieto 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Jan 2031
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 6‑0 against Cavese, and it could have been more.
Market6 Jan 2031
King Udoh 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 Crotone can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Jan 2031
The match ball belongs to Antonio Energe, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
Age has not caught King Udoh yet — 8.75
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.75 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Marco Zunno
17 goals and a season average of 7.52 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
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Match4 Jan 2031
Crotone make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Crotone have 3 straight wins of it.
Match4 Jan 2031
Antonio Energe among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Antonio Energe on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Crotone and Cavese.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Crotone go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Dec 2030
Marco Zunno takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market30 Dec 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 Crotone can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings30 Dec 2030
Age has not caught King Udoh yet — 8.25
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.25 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Marco Zunno is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.50 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad30 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Crotone
King Udoh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings30 Dec 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.81, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match28 Dec 2030
Three points for Crotone, 3‑1 the final word against Sorrento in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad30 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Crotone
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Claudio Lieto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings30 Dec 2030
Daniel Leo runs at them all day
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Dec 2030
6‑2, and Antonio Energe took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Crotone tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
Daniel Leo runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Dec 2030
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Marco Zunno is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.41 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad23 Dec 2030
King Udoh 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Dec 2030
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Crotone and Monopoli, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings23 Dec 2030
Antonio Energe was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.42. 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.
Squad23 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Crotone
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Claudio Lieto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Dec 2030
No end in sight to Crotone's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Crotone has to find a result from somewhere.
Match14 Dec 2030
Picerno left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
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Squad16 Dec 2030
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Zunno 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.
Squad16 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Crotone
Simone Tarolli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
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 Giovanni Rizzi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings16 Dec 2030
Daniel Leo runs at them all day
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.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
“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.
Looking ahead16 Dec 2030
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Monopoli in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
Daniel Leo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
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Match7 Dec 2030
4 matches without a win for Crotone
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Crotone are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words exchanged at Crotone
King Udoh 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.
Squad9 Dec 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davide Merelli and Crotone agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Crotone
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Claudio Lieto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Dec 2030
“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; Crotone are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match7 Dec 2030
Crotone caught on 91 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Altamura scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
The afternoon ran through King Udoh
Chances created: 12. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
King Udoh scores twice — 8.83
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match23 Nov 2030
King Udoh scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Salernitana, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Match23 Nov 2030
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Crotone and Salernitana, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Words exchanged at Crotone
Daniel Leo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
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Squad25 Nov 2030
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad25 Nov 2030
A row about effort at Crotone
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Zunno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Defences have started doubling up on King Udoh
7 goals and a season average of 7.22 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match16 Nov 2030
Chastening afternoon for Crotone
A 0‑3 beating by Benevento was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad18 Nov 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.
Market18 Nov 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 Crotone can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout18 Nov 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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Claudio Lieto 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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
A falling-out at Crotone
Daniel Leo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Walter Guerra, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
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Boardroom18 Nov 2030
Nobody left the Crotone 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market21 Oct 2030
“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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
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 Oct 2030
Daniel Leo runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Oct 2030
King Udoh 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Oct 2030
The run at home goes on for Crotone
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Claudio Lieto falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match19 Oct 2030
A 1‑0 win over Siracusa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
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Squad21 Oct 2030
Appearance number 200 for Daniel Leo
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Oct 2030
Crotone make it 12 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Crotone have 12 straight wins of it.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
Alberto Tarantino, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.61
A mark of 7.61 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Claudio Lieto 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Daniel Leo 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Oct 2030
Three points for Crotone, 2‑0 the final word against Potenza in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
Ninety minutes of Marco Zunno at his very best
Marked 8.71. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Crotone.
Match5 Oct 2030
Crotone make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad7 Oct 2030
“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 Crotone know it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Empoli keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Aug 2030
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.
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
Crotone asked and Genoa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Daniel Leo 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Aug 2030
At 34 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Marco Zunno 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 dugout12 Aug 2030
Daniel Çuli 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.
Market12 Aug 2030
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Francisco Politino may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout12 Aug 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 Crotone, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Jun 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout24 Jun 2030
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Transfer targets24 Jun 2030
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Atalanta is saying, and nobody at Crotone is enjoying the guessing.
Squad24 Jun 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Filippo Groppelli commits to Crotone for another 4 years.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Words exchanged at Crotone
Andrea Ciofi 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.
Transfer targets24 Jun 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Carpi have kept their man, and Crotone go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Claudio Lieto 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.
Market24 Jun 2030
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Crotone money.
The dugout24 Jun 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
Upbeat
Market3 Jun 2030
Crotone say no — this time
The offer from Trapani for Andrea Ciofi 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.
Transfer targets3 Jun 2030
Crotone asked and AS Roma 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 Jun 2030
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Claudio Lieto 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 dugout3 Jun 2030
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Squad3 Jun 2030
Luciano Pellegrini is the division's best young player this month
At 18 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Crotone will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Market3 Jun 2030
No place for Daniel Leo in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Daniel Leo has his answer from Crotone; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout3 Jun 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.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Daniel Çuli 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jun 2030
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Emiliano Lo Biundo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad13 May 2030
A season average of 7.60 with 41 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match11 May 2030
Crotone cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match11 May 2030
Three points for Crotone, 3‑1 the final word against Sorrento in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings13 May 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Squad13 May 2030
Claudio Lieto 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.
Squad13 May 2030
A falling-out at Crotone
Daniel Leo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings13 May 2030
Ninety minutes of King Udoh at his very best
Marked 8.82. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Crotone.
Market13 May 2030
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Francisco Politino has his answer from Crotone; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout13 May 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Giovanni Rizzi kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jan 2030
Terms done: Daniel Leo is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Palermo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Crotone is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad14 Jan 2030
A season average of 7.52 with 26 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match12 Jan 2030
2 behind and going nowhere, until Antonio Energe decided otherwise. Giugliano had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Two goals and a mark of 9.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market14 Jan 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Jan 2030
15 days out for Gennaro Vitale after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Crotone will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Marked 7.64 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout14 Jan 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Crotone may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match12 Jan 2030
Crotone are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market14 Jan 2030
“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.
Transfer targets14 Jan 2030
The deal with Crotone 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.
Squad14 Jan 2030
A falling-out at Palermo
Vanja Milinković-Savić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market14 Jan 2030
The deal that would have taken Giulio Anghileri to Vicenza has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Palermo with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Kenneth Taylor falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match12 Jan 2030
6 unbeaten for Palermo
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Palermo did not have in the autumn.
Squad14 Jan 2030
A season average of 7.26 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets14 Jan 2030
Palermo asked and Pineto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words exchanged at Crotone
Mattia Novella 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.
Match22 Dec 2029
1‑2 to Monopoli, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Dec 2029
A row about effort at Crotone
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolò Armini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Leo, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Giovanni Rizzi to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
13 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
A promise honoured at Crotone
Something was said to Diego Russo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.