From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
No sign of nerves from Simone Pafundi at 20 — 7.87
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simone Pafundi did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Pietro Iemmello, 34, rolls back the years — 8.47
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.47 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match6 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Catanzaro
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.
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 Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Feb 2027
Simone Pafundi scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Monza, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Petriccione 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Mehdi Dorval
“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 dugout8 Feb 2027
A promise honoured at Catanzaro
Something was said to Iván Bella and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Reggiana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Catanzaro is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Forli is saying, and nobody at Catanzaro is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Catanzaro close the window on a squad of their own making
4 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
At 20, Simone Pafundi is already the best thing here
An average of 7.22 in a first team he is several years too young for. Catanzaro have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Catanzaro's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Catanzaro has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Mirko Pigliacelli 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacopo Petriccione was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matias Antonini, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Feb 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
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
Words exchanged at Catanzaro
Mirko Pigliacelli 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 targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Catanzaro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Sampdoria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Imperiale 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Catanzaro has been clear about where Nicolò Brighenti stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 97% of the Catanzaro income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout25 Jan 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
Steady
Squad18 Jan 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 ratings18 Jan 2027
Simone Pafundi, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.16
A mark of 8.16 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Mirko Pigliacelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
David Stabile 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. David Stabile has, at Catanzaro, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Petriccione is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Catanzaro asked and Union Brescia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabio Tito, and the manager let it.
Market18 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” N'dri Philippe Koffi has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Catanzaro.
Market18 Jan 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Catanzaro signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Mateo Reynoso 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. Mateo Reynoso has, at Catanzaro, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad11 Jan 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 Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Petriccione 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francisco Palacios and Catanzaro agree another 3 years.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
Triestina will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Rodolfo Moisés has pre-agreed a move to Catanzaro, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Catanzaro asked and Lokomotiv Sofia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout11 Jan 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
Mirko Pigliacelli has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Catanzaro will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Match9 Jan 2027
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
Steady
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Simone Pafundi takes the afternoon — 9.18
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Simone Pafundi provided it, and the 9.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.06, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.21 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Catanzaro know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad4 Jan 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; Catanzaro are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Mirko Pigliacelli 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 targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bari have kept their man, and Catanzaro go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match2 Jan 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Simone Pafundi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Catanzaro.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.94, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Catanzaro
Mirko Pigliacelli 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 dugout28 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Matias Antonini 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 129% of the Catanzaro income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Match26 Dec 2026
Catanzaro caught on 93 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bari scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match26 Dec 2026
It needed Simone Pafundi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Bari, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout28 Dec 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
Squad21 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Simone Pafundi, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.25
A mark of 8.25 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Pietro Iemmello, 34, rolls back the years — 8.65
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.65 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad21 Dec 2026
38 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Dec 2026
Three points for Catanzaro, 2‑0 the final word against Avellino in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match19 Dec 2026
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Iván Bella 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Matias Antonini 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
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
11 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
The small margins put Catanzaro out
Out, 1‑5 to Fiorentina, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
Catanzaro are taken apart by Fiorentina — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-5. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Pietro Iemmello, 34, rolls back the years — 7.83
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Catanzaro
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Iván Bella 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.
Match9 Dec 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Catanzaro and Fiorentina in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match12 Dec 2026
Empoli left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Fabio Tito 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
Crisis
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.21 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Catanzaro know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matias Antonini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tommaso Cassandro commits to Catanzaro for another 4 years.
Player ratings7 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Catanzaro
Mirko Pigliacelli 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 127% of everything Catanzaro earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Damián Bogado, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matias Antonini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Fabio Tito dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match28 Nov 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Padova defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Modena in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Jacopo Petriccione 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match21 Nov 2026
0‑2 to Reggiana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout23 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Giovanni Cattaneo to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout23 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.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
Padova next, and one man in the Catanzaro dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 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 Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Jacopo Petriccione 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 ratings16 Nov 2026
Federico Di Francesco was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolò Brighenti, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Fabio Tito
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout16 Nov 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.” Giovanni Cattaneo, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Fabio Tito knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fabio Tito trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Nov 2026
Catanzaro march on in the cup
Padova are out and Catanzaro go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.16 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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 ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli 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 terraces9 Nov 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emanuele Pecorino, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Matias Antonini 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 ratings9 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.39 on the card, and the Catanzaro support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Oct 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Catanzaro scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Simone Pafundi at 20 — 8.31
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simone Pafundi did not need any: 8.31, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Iván Bella and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Simone Pafundi 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.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Mantova made Catanzaro work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Imperiale was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 127% of everything Catanzaro earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Catanzaro
Iván Bella 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacopo Petriccione was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabio Tito, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Match24 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Catanzaro?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Virtus Entella? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Catanzaro squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.80, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alessandro De Luca is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacopo Petriccione was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Oct 2026
34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Giovanni Cattaneo left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Catanzaro
A 0‑3 beating by Cesena was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Edoardo Borrelli is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” N'dri Philippe Koffi and Catanzaro agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antonio Candela, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Marco Imperiale 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.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Catanzaro
Mirko Pigliacelli 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 162% of everything Catanzaro earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Simone Pafundi 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Ruggero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Catanzaro 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Carlos Paz and Catanzaro agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
A 3‑1 win over Bra, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad28 Sep 2026
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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.00 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Catanzaro against Monza
1‑3 to Monza, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Ruggero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Sep 2026
1‑4 to Pescara, 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 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 Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolò Brighenti, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Catanzaro 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Catanzaro
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bruno Verrengia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Danilo Bulevardi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad21 Sep 2026
3 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Emanuele Pecorino damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Iván Bella 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 Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Iván Bella 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Marco Imperiale 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout14 Sep 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 Giovanni Cattaneo to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Danilo Bulevardi
Nobody at Catanzaro 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
Triumph
Squad7 Sep 2026
Emanuele Pecorino damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match5 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Venezia, and it could have been more.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Pietro Iemmello, 34, rolls back the years — 7.92
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 16 in, 3 out at Catanzaro
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Iván Bella and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Patrick Nuamah 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Giovane 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
In brief
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The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Iván Bella
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
A promotion for Simone Pafundi
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad31 Aug 2026
Emanuele Pecorino damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match29 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Frosinone, and it could have been more.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Simone Pafundi takes the afternoon — 9.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Simone Pafundi provided it, and the 9.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Catanzaro offered $200.0K; Inter said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Imperiale 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
13 new faces, and Catanzaro 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Catanzaro lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Catanzaro asked and Como said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 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 Catanzaro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Catanzaro offered $420.0K; Virtus Entella said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Catanzaro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Imperiale 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.
Squad24 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Emanuele Pecorino damages knee ligaments — 47 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 47 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market17 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$3.2M was the most the club would pay and Sassuolo 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
$420.0K on the table at Virtus Entella. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli 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 targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Inter 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$3.2M on the table at Sassuolo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mirko Pigliacelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Leandro Galli 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Marco Pellegrino is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Domenico Donati 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Flavio Armani 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
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Pietro Iemmello and Catanzaro agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Catanzaro
Mirko Pigliacelli 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nicolò Brighenti 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
24 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
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.