From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 May 2027
11 matches without a win for Crotone
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Crotone are no longer polite ones.
Match17 May 2027
Crotone are in real trouble now
Position 17, 38 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
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
Andrea Gallo: 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.” Crotone have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 May 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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
Uneasy
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Crotone
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.
Squad10 May 2027
Matteo Maggio 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Crotone 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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bartosz Tomaszewski, and the manager let it.
Match8 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
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.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Davide Merelli signs something — a contract at Crotone or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 May 2027
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Crotone's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Crotone has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Crisis meeting at Crotone
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.
Market3 May 2027
Marco Zunno hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Crotone can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 May 2027
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Squad3 May 2027
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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 terraces3 May 2027
Crotone supporters have found a favourite in Kevin Bruno
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kevin Bruno 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antonio Energe, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Crotone
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match24 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Crotone
8 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.
Squad26 Apr 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; Crotone are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Matteo Maggio 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guido Gomez, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bartosz Tomaszewski 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for Crotone
Position 17 and 34 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market19 Apr 2027
Leon Klußmann hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Crotone can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Crotone
7 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Guido Gomez 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
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Crotone
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Crotone have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Both jobs done by Marco Meli — 6.57
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 18 actions, 6.57, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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 ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrea Gallo
“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 ratings12 Apr 2027
Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match10 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Cosenza will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Roberto Giuliani has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Crotone can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The Crotone board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Match3 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Crotone
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nicholas Callarà is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A move Agustín Mello would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Agustín Mello is living that version at Crotone, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matteo Maggio, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
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.
Match3 Apr 2027
It needed Guido Gomez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Salernitana, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Crotone boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match27 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Crotone
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match27 Mar 2027
The goals have deserted Crotone
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Crotone can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad29 Mar 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Giuseppe Mungari is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Benevento left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Davide Merelli
“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 ratings29 Mar 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
Market22 Mar 2027
Leon Klußmann hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Crotone can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Matteo Maggio 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
The goals have deserted Crotone
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Crotone can tell you which week it ends in.
Match20 Mar 2027
Catania left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Crotone may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Andrea Gallo 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davide Di Pasquale, and the manager let it.
Match13 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Latina will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
25 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Matteo Maggio was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Walter Guerra commits to Crotone for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Guido Gomez
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Match6 Mar 2027
Point won or two lost for Crotone?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Casarano? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Crotone boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad1 Mar 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
A 3‑1 win over Siracusa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Antonio Energe at his very best
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Crotone.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Andrea Gallo 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Crotone deserved better, and so did he.
Market1 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Guido Gomez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Feb 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 Crotone, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Crotone have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Feb 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; Crotone are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Guido Gomez 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Antonio Energe’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Crotone.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Matteo Maggio was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.67. 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leon Klußmann, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A defender's afternoon for Mattia Sandri
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Feb 2027
Crotone are in real trouble now
Position 17, 24 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market15 Feb 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 Feb 2027
Andrea Rispoli: 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.” Crotone have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match13 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Crotone
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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 ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Antonio Energe
“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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Potenza left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Roberto Giuliani has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Andrea Gallo: 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.” Crotone have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Matteo Maggio was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Squad8 Feb 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Vincenzo Cantisani returns from a loan that gave him nothing
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Crotone
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Crotone's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Crotone has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Vinícius 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 ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Andrea Rispoli pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simone Calvano, and the manager let it.
Market1 Feb 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at Crotone no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
The chances came and went for Guido Gomez
11 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
Leon Klußmann hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Crotone can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A promise honoured for Vinícius
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Crotone told Vinícius something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Niccolò Cocetta
“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
Squad18 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matteo Maggio, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
7.83, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Crotone had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match16 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Vinícius 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 Crotone, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Davide Merelli keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Crotone say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A mark of 5.77 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A mark of 5.78 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Mattia Sandri goes up and wins it — 7.72
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 7.72 for the rest of it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Guido Gomez 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 Jan 2027
1‑2 to Giugliano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrea Gallo 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 ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Guido Gomez
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 5.53, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.50, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Pressure builds in the Crotone boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
A 2‑0 win over Cavese, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Crotone and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Davide Merelli has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Crotone 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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
$182.5K taken back off the Crotone table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nicholas Callarà is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Gallo, and the manager let it.
Match26 Dec 2026
Sorrento left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Dec 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.99 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Crotone are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad21 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Giuseppe Mungari is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Andrea Gallo 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
Match9 Dec 2026
Crotone bow out of the cup
Lazio go through and Crotone go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match14 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Crotone
Position 17 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 11 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Crotone
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Matteo Maggio 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 ratings14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match12 Dec 2026
Antonio Energe scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Picerno, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad14 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Andrea Gallo 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.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Crotone, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Vinícius 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
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Crotone told Mattia Sandri something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Matteo Maggio 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrea Gallo 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Cosenza left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market23 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A brace, and Guido Gomez takes the afternoon — 8.37
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Guido Gomez provided it, and the 8.37 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Guido Gomez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Crotone.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrea Gallo
“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
Steady
Match16 Nov 2026
Crotone sink to position 17
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Crotone may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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
“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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. 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
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Kevin Bruno, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.27
A mark of 8.27 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad9 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Catania left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
At 21 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristian Andreoni, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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
Matteo Maggio 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
It finished 2‑1, and it was Antonio Energe’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Crotone.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Antonio Energe was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. 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.
Squad2 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Kevin Bruno named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kevin Bruno 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
Market26 Oct 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 Crotone, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Crotone are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad26 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Casarano left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Guido Gomez 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 Oct 2026
Niccolò Cocetta is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leon Klußmann, and the manager let it.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Guido Gomez. 1‑0 against Siracusa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Crotone's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Crotone has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Crotone game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pineto runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match10 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for Crotone
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Crotone are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Guido Gomez 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 3‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nicholas Callarà is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Match3 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Crotone and Potenza, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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 Oct 2026
Andrea Gallo 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.25 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market5 Oct 2026
No place for Vinícius in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Vinícius has his answer from Crotone; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
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Player ratings
Antonio Energe runs at them all day
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Boardroom
97% of the income goes out in wages at Crotone
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The terraces
Everybody has an opinion about Guido Gomez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Davide Merelli decides it from twelve yards
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match23 Sep 2026
Crotone through in the cup
A 1‑1 win over Casarano, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A first appearance Christian Fogliaro will want to forget — 5.59
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.59, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Match23 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Crotone's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Crotone has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Giuseppe Mungari is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Cristian Andreoni 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
The kick that got away from Angelo Veltri
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The afternoon belonged to Marco Zunno
A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vincenzo Pio Grimaldi is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match19 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Crotone
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.
Squad21 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Crotone against Foggia
0‑1 to Foggia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings21 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 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 Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Cristian Andreoni 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
Simone Calvano ran the middle of the pitch — 6.58
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 6.58, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad14 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Crotone against Trapani
0‑1 to Trapani, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Pineto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Crotone and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market14 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Guido Gomez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces7 Sep 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 10 of the 30 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Matteo Maggio 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
0‑2 to Casertana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Guido Gomez could not find anything
5.53. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.57 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Guido Gomez takes the afternoon — 8.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Guido Gomez provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Giugliano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Gallo, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andrea Buonaccorsi 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
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Matteo Maggio 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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Crotone
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Bruno Serafini 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adriano Neri has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market24 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Federico Russo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Cristian Andreoni 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Guido Gomez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Antonio Energe and Crotone agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Guido Gomez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crotone this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
Mattia Novella is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Crotone has been clear about where Mattia Novella stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad10 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Vinícius
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vinícius, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Andrea Gallo's contract
48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Antonio Energe 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 Antonio Energe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Guido Gomez commits to Crotone for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Guido Gomez 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Crotone training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Andreoni 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.