Marked for Benjamín Domínguez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Niklas Pyyhtiä: 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.” Bologna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Riccardo Orsolini 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 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lewis Ferguson, and the manager let it.
Match20 Nov 2027
Three points for Bologna, 2‑1 the final word against Empoli in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.72 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings22 Nov 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.
Loan watch22 Nov 2027
“I watch every Bologna game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bra runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Nov 2027
There were 11 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.
Market1 Nov 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 The request is on a desk at Bologna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Nov 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market1 Nov 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Bologna heard it as anything else.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emil Holm and Bologna agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Behar Neziri
“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
Match9 Oct 2027
Whatever happens, Bologna do not lose
12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bologna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
37 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Riccardo Orsolini 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 ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market11 Oct 2027
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Bologna hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Match9 Oct 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Santiago Castro. 2‑1 against AS Roma, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Marked 8.91 — 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.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I watch every Bologna game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Trento runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Sep 2027
10 unbeaten for Bologna
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Bologna did not have in the autumn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Riccardo Orsolini 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 ratings27 Sep 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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 8.78 — 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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 8.34 — 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antonio Raimondo, and the manager let it.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gennaro Anatriello and Bologna agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I watch every Bologna game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bra runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
There were 10 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
7 matches without a win for Bologna
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Bologna are no longer polite ones.
Squad13 Sep 2027
69 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match11 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Bologna do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Riccardo Orsolini 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Juan Miranda wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Bologna hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I watch every Bologna game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Trento runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Sep 2027
“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.
Match4 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Bologna
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.
Market6 Sep 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Massimo Pessina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bologna the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad6 Sep 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match4 Sep 2027
7 unbeaten for Bologna
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Bologna did not have in the autumn.
Market6 Sep 2027
Mantova pay $59.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Jens Odgaard
“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 ratings6 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 2027
Business is business: Nadir Zortea goes
Pescara paid $10.7M and Bologna took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad30 Aug 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match28 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Bologna
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.
Market30 Aug 2027
Wisdom Amey 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 Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Riccardo Orsolini 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 ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Aug 2027
6 unbeaten for Bologna
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Bologna did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.97 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.38 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Valerio Aureli: 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.” Bologna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Jul 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Bologna heard it as anything else.
Market12 Jul 2027
Union Brescia are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Bologna will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Emil Holm asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom31 May 2027
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 47 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad31 May 2027
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.
Match26 May 2027
Bologna through in the cup
A 0‑0 win over Inter, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad31 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 May 2027
6 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Loan watch3 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
27 goals in 34 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad3 May 2027
Massimo Pessina: 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.” Bologna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 May 2027
A performance of 9.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Lewis Ferguson
“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 ratings3 May 2027
A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings3 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad3 May 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 2027
Riccardo Orsolini 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 ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 9.28 — 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Niccolò Fortini. 2‑0 against AC Milan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A season average of 7.26 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad26 Apr 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bologna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Bologna do not lose
15 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
32 appearances away from home and 26 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market12 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Bologna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bologna they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 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 ratings12 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.81, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Thijs Dallinga reports back to Bologna with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Bologna heard it as anything else.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhon Lucumí, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.85, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Marked 8.31 — 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.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
Nadir Zortea 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 Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market18 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Jonathan Rowe again, and this time the name on the line is Empoli. Bologna are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Benjamín Domínguez. 3‑2 against Lecce, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.89 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Marked 8.43 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 2027
Nicolò Cambiaghi has left for AC Milan in a $20.8M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market11 Jan 2027
Lazio paid $6.5M and Bologna took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Riccardo Orsolini 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The fee is $450.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Frosinone drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
16 goals in 19 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Match9 Jan 2027
Thijs Dallinga scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Parma, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Bernardeschi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
15 goals in 18 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market4 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Lazio have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eivind Helland. The answer from Bologna has not changed — yet.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad4 Jan 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.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I watch every Bologna game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Triestina runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
There were 13 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Remo Freuler
“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 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.84 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.34 — 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
12 goals in 14 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Match5 Dec 2026
It needed Riccardo Orsolini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Como, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 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 Bologna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Riccardo Orsolini 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 ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thijs Dallinga. 2‑1 against Cagliari, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 349% of everything Bologna earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.76 — 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nadir Zortea, and the manager let it.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
7 goals in 6 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bologna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Bologna's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bologna has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.62 — 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Lewis Ferguson
“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.
Match26 Sep 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Juan Miranda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad14 Sep 2026
João Mário 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 Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Sep 2026
Santiago Castro scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Juventus, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.21 — 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Bologna will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikola Moro gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Bologna heard it as anything else.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Riccardo Orsolini 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 321% of everything Bologna earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match5 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Bologna against Lecce
0‑1 to Lecce, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Altamura are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Bologna will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Remo Freuler, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Benjamín Domínguez has come up in conversations Bologna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Santiago Castro
“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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Shots: 15, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Market24 Aug 2026
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
Sampdoria come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Bologna did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 61 days on the sidelines for Juan Miranda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Inter have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nicolò Casale. The answer from Bologna has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 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.