From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Bari
Gabriele Moncini 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 dugout24 May 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giulio Maggiore trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Michele Cerofolini signs something — a contract at Bari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout24 May 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bari. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market24 May 2027
Bari have let the market know Juan Albertinazzi can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad24 May 2027
The training reports on Nicola Bellomo are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
Squad24 May 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 May 2027
The wait goes on for Bari
10 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.
Match17 May 2027
The season ends: position 15 for Bari
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 41 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Market17 May 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Valerio Mantovani 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Bari
Leonardo Mendicino 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 dugout17 May 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“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; Bari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match15 May 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Avellino leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 May 2027
No end in sight to Bari's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bari has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings10 May 2027
No sign of nerves from Daouda Traoré at 20 — 8.00
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Daouda Traoré did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad10 May 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad10 May 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Bari still without a manager
9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Bari
Gabriele Moncini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces10 May 2027
Bari supporters have found a favourite in Daouda Traoré
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Daouda Traoré has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad10 May 2027
Giulio Maggiore 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio López
“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.
In brief
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Match
Bari caught on 87 minutes
-
Match
Honours even between Bari and Catanzaro
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 May 2027
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Arturo Bianco clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Match1 May 2027
8 matches without a win for Bari
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Bari are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Crisis meeting at Bari
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Boardroom3 May 2027
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Cristiano Romano recited it perfectly.
Market3 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Nahuel Peralta
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel Peralta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Loan watch3 May 2027
27 appearances at Perugia and the goals keep coming. Bari are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad3 May 2027
Valerio Mantovani 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Bari
Ebrima Darboe 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 ratings3 May 2027
A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Pressure builds in the Bari boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Christian Gytkjær takes the afternoon — 8.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christian Gytkjær provided it, and the 8.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match24 Apr 2027
7 matches without a win for Bari
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Bari are no longer polite ones.
Market26 Apr 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 Bari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Apr 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match24 Apr 2027
Bari come up short against Modena
Modena left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
Squad26 Apr 2027
Valerio Mantovani 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.
Squad26 Apr 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Apr 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Bari
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match17 Apr 2027
5 matches without a goal for Bari
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bari will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad19 Apr 2027
18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Bari
Gabriele Moncini 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 Apr 2027
Giulio Maggiore 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bari can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bari may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Bari
5 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.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nahuel Peralta has agreed terms with Avellino for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Match10 Apr 2027
The goals have deserted Bari
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Bari can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Apr 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market12 Apr 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Teodoro Cassano is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Apr 2027
A hiding for Bari
Beaten 0‑5 by Spezia, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market5 Apr 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 Bari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Apr 2027
4 matches without a win for Bari
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bari are no longer polite ones.
Market5 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
26 appearances away from home and 16 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valerio Mantovani 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Bari
Ebrima Darboe 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 Apr 2027
The goals have deserted Bari
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Bari can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout5 Apr 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Bari boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bari may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Bari
Leonardo Mendicino 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giulio Maggiore was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ebrima Darboe, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“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; Bari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout29 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Bari
Sergio López and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Mar 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergio López, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Bari dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Squad22 Mar 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 Bari know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad15 Mar 2027
500 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“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; Bari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valerio Mantovani 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 dugout15 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.
The dugout15 Mar 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Arturo Bianco to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bari told Gabriele Moncini something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Arturo Bianco has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Bari can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Bari, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bari may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match6 Mar 2027
Bari cannot stop winning
3 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Christian Gytkjær commits to Bari for another 2 years.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
23 appearances at Perugia and the goals keep coming. Bari are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Bari
Gabriele Moncini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Mar 2027
A 2‑1 win over Carrarese, 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
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Bari
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bari is running low.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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; Bari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valerio Mantovani 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Bari
Giulio Maggiore and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A last season at home is what Lucas Villarruel is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match27 Feb 2027
Bari get the job done against Cesena
A 1‑0 win over Cesena, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
22 appearances at Perugia and the goals keep coming. Bari are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Lukas Grgić 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match20 Feb 2027
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Juve Stabia spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Guido Gomez: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match20 Feb 2027
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Valerio Mantovani 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.
Squad22 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Sergio López wants one last season at home
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Bari know now that the thought has arrived.
Match20 Feb 2027
Three points for Bari, 1‑0 the final word against Juve Stabia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruno Bianchi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.31, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bari can pretend not to have heard.
Match13 Feb 2027
6 matches without a win for Bari
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Bari are no longer polite ones.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bari may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match13 Feb 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Bari and Monza in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match13 Feb 2027
A bad afternoon for Bari against Monza
2‑4 to Monza, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bruno Bianchi wants to finish where he started
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Bari now know that too.
Squad15 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
-
The dugout
Michele Cerofolini gets it from the manager
-
Squad
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
-
Boardroom
Inquest at Bari
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
Bruno Bianchi 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 Bari can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Sergio López: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match6 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Bari
5 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at NK Domzale is saying, and nobody at Bari is enjoying the guessing.
Match6 Feb 2027
4 matches without a goal for Bari
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Villarruel, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Giacomo Stabile named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Giacomo Stabile is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bari can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Bari
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bari is running low.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bari may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Bari close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The deal with NK Domzale 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Bari's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bari has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match30 Jan 2027
3 matches without a goal for Bari
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Jan 2027
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Juan Albertinazzi arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Juan Albertinazzi has, at Bari, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Bari asked and Young Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Bari
Leonardo Mendicino 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Giulio Maggiore 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Inquest at Bari
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
Sergio López 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 Bari can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jan 2027
There were 7 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
No thanks: Yojan Garcés rejects the move
Bari had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at America de Cali, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Match16 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Bari
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Valerio Mantovani 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.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
Cristo will join Bari for nothing
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Cristo has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Bari have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Bari
Ebrima Darboe 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Genk have kept their man, and Bari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bari can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Franco Di Santo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Cas Odenthal 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ebrima Darboe commits to Bari for another 4 years.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Bari asked and Parma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Tomás Esteves ran the middle of the pitch — 6.93
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.93, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad11 Jan 2027
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jan 2027
No mercy from Bari
Avellino will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Bari were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad4 Jan 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 9.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Bari
Gabriele Moncini 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
50 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio López
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valerio Mantovani 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Bruno Bianchi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriele Moncini, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout28 Dec 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Half-satisfied: Arturo Bianco on the draw
“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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Point won or two lost for Bari?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Catanzaro? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.45 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Bari
Sergio López 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Bari leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The dugout21 Dec 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bari told Kevin Piscopo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Match19 Dec 2026
Bari and Empoli take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Cas Odenthal 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 Bari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match9 Dec 2026
Bari bow out of the cup
Cagliari go through and Bari go home, 1‑5 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.26, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
A cup hiding at Cagliari leaves Bari explaining themselves
1-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Match9 Dec 2026
6 goals as Bari and Cagliari go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Bari and Cagliari, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kevin Piscopo. 3‑2 against Modena, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Gabriele Moncini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
In brief
-
Squad
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
-
Match
Bari hit back inside 2 minutes
-
Boardroom
Doors closed at Bari
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lucas Villarruel
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match5 Dec 2026
A hiding for Bari
Beaten 0‑3 by Padova, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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 Bari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Valerio Mantovani 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 Dec 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Sergio López 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Flavio Junior Bianchi commits to Bari for another 3 years.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Bari 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lucas Villarruel
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Sergio López and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giulio Maggiore, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Half-satisfied: Arturo Bianco on the draw
“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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Bari and Reggiana cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Reggiana came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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 Nicola Bellomo is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lucas Villarruel
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Guido Gomez: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Cas Odenthal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
Spezia made Bari work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad23 Nov 2026
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lukas Grgić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruno Bianchi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bari may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valerio Mantovani 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 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Bari
Bruno Bianchi 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Lukas Grgić 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tobías Torrielli and Bari agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match14 Nov 2026
Honours even between Bari and Palermo
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Half-satisfied: Arturo Bianco on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lucas Villarruel
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match4 Nov 2026
Bari march on in the cup
Crotone are out and Bari go through, 3‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A brace, and Nicola Bellomo takes the afternoon — 7.93
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicola Bellomo provided it, and the 7.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Bari
Gabriele Moncini 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Bari against Mantova
0‑2 to Mantova, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Gytkjær, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Bari 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
Steady
Market2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Bari
Gabriele Moncini 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Virtus Entella left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lukas Grgić 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Villarruel, and the manager let it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
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 Arturo Bianco to a room that had heard them before.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Guido Gomez is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Guido Gomez has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Bari
Bruno Bianchi 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gabriele Moncini. 1‑0 against Carrarese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Oct 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout26 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
7.78, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Bari had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad26 Oct 2026
22 new faces, and Bari 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Bari
Sergio López 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Bari against Cesena
0‑2 to Cesena, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergio López, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Arturo Bianco after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Occhiato commits to Bari for another 3 years.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Tomás Esteves
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Carrarese next, and one man in the Bari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Bari
Lucas Villarruel 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Matteo Della Morte’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Bari.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lukas Grgić 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Matteo Della Morte was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Guido Gomez
“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 dugout12 Oct 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Nicola Bellomo
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
Bari taken apart
1‑7 to Monza, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market5 Oct 2026
Bruno Bianchi 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 Bari can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Oct 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings5 Oct 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 7.80 for the rest of it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Bari
Cas Odenthal 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
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Bari and Monza in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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 Bari know it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valerio Mantovani, and the manager let it.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Nobody left the Bari dressing room in a hurry
-
The dugout
Kevin Piscopo is still paying for one afternoon at Bari
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Bari
Sergio López 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 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vincenzo Prisco is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valerio Mantovani 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Bari, 1‑0 the final word against Pescara in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Bari
21 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Guido Gomez
7.55, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Bari had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Arturo Bianco, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Bari
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bari are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
23 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sergio López 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Gabriele Moncini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lukas Grgić, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Arturo Bianco on the draw
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Tomás Esteves
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Nobody at Bari is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sergio López 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. La Equidad have kept their man, and Bari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Bruno Bianchi
“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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Bari
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nahuel Peralta and Bari agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.58 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 8 in, 1 out at Bari
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Trento have kept their man, and Bari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Sergio López and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clock did what Vicenza would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Anthony Partipilo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Palermo wanted more than $8.1M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Leonardo Mendicino, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$1.5M on the table at Vicenza. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benevento have kept their man, and Bari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Bari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lukas Grgić 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Leonardo Mendicino and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 Aug 2026
A point taken on 94 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Bari are still strangers to each other
19 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Bari have gone to Palermo with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$1.0M was the most the club would pay and Benevento were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Young Boys keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vicenza have kept their man, and Bari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
2 academy graduates step up at Bari
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Bari
Bruno Bianchi 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ignazio Cipriani is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market24 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Paolo Armani has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$13.3M was the most the club would pay and Juventus were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Bari
Valerio Mantovani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Bruno Bianchi 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Sergio López in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Bari are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market17 Aug 2026
Bari bring in an old head
Juan Fernando Garro is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$12.3M was the most the club would pay and Napoli were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at La Equidad is saying, and nobody at Bari is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Valerio Mantovani commits to Bari for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lukas Grgić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Flavio Junior Bianchi, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Bari have made the call to La Equidad. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The offer went to Napoli this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michele Cerofolini commits to Bari for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Bari
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valerio Mantovani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Vasile Mogoş 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 Bari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Bari
14 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to La Equidad: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.