31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Simone Rabbi 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.
At 21 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Virtus Verona have kept their man, and Ravenna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Paolo Rrapaj has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Filippo Fiorini 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Michele Negri 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravenna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Empoli have kept their man, and Ravenna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Simone Rabbi 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.
Dimitri Bisoli was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $980.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Cesena; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The offer from FH for Abdel Rachid Zagré was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Da Pozzo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simone Rabbi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ravenna had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Cesena, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The phone has started ringing about Abdel Rachid Zagré again, and this time the name on the line is Vorskla. Ravenna are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutMatteo Solini knocks on the manager’s door
The offer from Cosenza for Fernando Corica was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 17 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.
Simone Rabbi 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Enrico Giannini from Cosenza for $980.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Bianconi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Cosenza have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Fernando Corica. The answer from Ravenna has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Manuel Fischnaller trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Still no offer on the table, and Pierluca Luciani’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
In brief
SquadWords at Ravenna training over how hard people work
“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Supporters turn on the $620.0K sale of Matteo Motti
He is going to Mantova, the club has $620.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Ravenna have gone to Wadi Degla with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Ravenna asked and Paradou 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 offer went to Cosenza 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.
Stefano Okaka 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ravenna people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 21 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.
Stefano Okaka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Rabbi 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.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
$5.0M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ravenna have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is going to Palermo, the club has $5.0M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
Ravenna asked and Sporting CP said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Casertana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ravenna is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravenna can pretend not to have heard.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ravenna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Supporters turn on the $770.0K sale of Giovanni Zaro
He is going to Frosinone, the club has $770.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
Campobasso will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Francesco Parisi has pre-agreed a move to Ravenna, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Frosinone for Giovanni Zaro was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The name of Cristiano Bani has come up in conversations Ravenna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Giovanni Zaro 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Maxim Dedelev has, at Ravenna, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ravenna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ravenna is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Daniele Casiraghi 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 Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ravenna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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 words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Giovanni Zaro 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ravenna. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ravenna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The terracesThe Simone Rabbi rumours reach the terraces
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolas Viola will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ravenna the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Daniele Casiraghi 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
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nobody at Ravenna 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giulio Donati trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 41 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Daniele Casiraghi 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
Giovanni Zaro 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.
8.11. 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Campobasso had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Giovanni Zaro 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vincenzo Guidi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Ravenna will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
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.
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Giulio Donati has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ravenna.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Vincenzo Guidi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravenna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vincenzo Guidi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ravenna dressing room was either.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vincenzo Guidi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Matteo Motti had Ravenna level again within 1 minutes, and Ternana never got to play with a lead at all.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Vincenzo Guidi chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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.
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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vincenzo Guidi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ravenna dressing room was either.
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.
123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fernando Corica provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravenna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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; Ravenna are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Simone Rabbi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.95. 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Vincenzo Guidi could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutCristian Spini is still being punished for one mistake
131 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Daniele Casiraghi 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 Feb 2027
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
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.
7.31, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Ravenna had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vincenzo Guidi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ravenna dressing room was either.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Guidonia Montecelio had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Ravenna did not stop to explain themselves.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.21 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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. 11 actions, 7.10, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Matteo Solini.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Luca Falbo
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ravenna have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Ravenna will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolas Viola will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ravenna the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Ravenna close the window on a squad of their own making
1 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Giovanni Zaro 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Chesterfield for Fernando Corica was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
0‑1 to Livorno, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Vincenzo Guidi to a room that had heard them before.
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Mattia Scaringi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ravenna people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Cagliari for Cristiano Bani was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The name of Fernando Corica has come up in conversations Ravenna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Wadi Degla is saying, and nobody at Ravenna is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravenna can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ravenna asked and Wadi Degla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
Ravenna asked and Paradou 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Daniele Casiraghi 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
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
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.
Minute 94, against Pineto, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ravenna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Joyce Anacoura
The dugoutMattia Scaringi is still being punished for one mistake
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ravenna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
500 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 9, 25 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravenna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabián Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alessandro Bianconi 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Vincenzo Guidi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑3 to Ascoli, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravenna can pretend not to have heard.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 135 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Daniele Casiraghi 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 Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
142 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.97 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The words a physio says slowly. 150 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
Minute 91, against Ternana, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
158 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Sassuolo go through and Ravenna go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ravenna scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
A cup hiding at Sassuolo leaves Ravenna explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravenna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.99, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabián Castillo 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.
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
Simone Rabbi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Vincenzo Guidi could afford to be generous.
Christian Raggioli 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alessandro Bianconi 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Vincenzo Guidi after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Giovanni Zaro 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Ravenna 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vincenzo Guidi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Ravenna dressing room was either.
Nobody at Ravenna 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravenna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabián Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mirko Baraldi 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Raffaele Barbieri 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vincenzo Guidi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
Player ratingsThe cruellest goal, and it is Matteo Motti's
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Ravenna, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Ravenna know it.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravenna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Cristian Spini obliged against Giugliano. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Ravenna.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Giovanni Zaro 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
Cristian Spini was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.24. 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.
At 22 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.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
In brief
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Nicolas Viola
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 138 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Giovanni Zaro 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
Words at Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabián Castillo 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.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Ravenna 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Manuel Fischnaller has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Zaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Manuel Paro is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Valentino Marchetti 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.
Christian Raggioli 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.
“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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravenna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Joshua Tenkorang decided nobody was going anywhere. Sambenedettese had no time left to answer.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Giovanni Zaro 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Vincenzo Guidi could afford to be generous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian Raggioli and Ravenna agree another 3 years.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Vincenzo Guidi could afford to be generous.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravenna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Daniele Casiraghi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Giovanni Zaro 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecce have kept their man, and Ravenna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Ravenna 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.
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
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.
Daniele Casiraghi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torres have kept their man, and Ravenna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Ravenna know which stage they are at.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravenna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravenna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabián Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ravenna asked and Shakhtar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alberto Pellegrini 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pierpaolo Vignali is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gennaro Conte 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.
Daniele Casiraghi 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 Ravenna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Zaro 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Martín have kept their man, and Ravenna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
24 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.
Edoardo Duca arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cristiano Bani signs something — a contract at Ravenna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Cristiano Bani