Marked for Nikoloz Tkalia
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Apr 2029
41 days out for Manuel Falón after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market9 Apr 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Forli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 Apr 2029
5 matches without a win for Forli
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Forli are no longer polite ones.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Ettore Contarato has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Forli is pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Forli pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Forli can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad9 Apr 2029
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Manuel Falón out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match17 Mar 2029
Nowhere to hide for Forli
0‑3 against Vicenza, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market19 Mar 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Forli, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match17 Mar 2029
The goals have deserted Forli
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Forli can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“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.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Inquest at Forli
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Diego Rossi's mistake
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Player ratings
One moment undoes Diego Rossi
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Squad
A row about effort at Forli
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Forli's wait for a win
24 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Forli has to find a result from somewhere.
Market12 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Forli can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Ettore Contarato has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Forli is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Manuel Falón 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.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
Forli asked and Vis Pesaro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match10 Feb 2029
Pianese left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Forli
Kostas Myrtollari and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Hannes Gamper
“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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Forli can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Forli's wait for a win
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Forli has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces29 Jan 2029
The mood at Forli has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match29 Jan 2029
Every point is an argument now for Forli
Position 16 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Forli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Hannes Gamper, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.62
A mark of 7.62 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Manuel Falón 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.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pergolettese have kept their man, and Forli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Dec 2028
The wait goes on for Forli
14 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.
The terraces4 Dec 2028
Supporters organise against the Forli board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match4 Dec 2028
Forli sink to position 16
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market4 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Forli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Manuel Falón and Forli agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Falón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Dec 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Forli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Oct 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Forli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Forli
Klevis Hasanbelli was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Falón is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Forli are still strangers to each other
5 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Nikoloz Tkalia
“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.
Market16 Oct 2028
Mate Szoboszlai is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Forli has been clear about where Mate Szoboszlai stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
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 dugout16 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Federico Valentini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
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 Filippo Ercolani has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces9 Oct 2028
Anger at Forli spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match7 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Forli
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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and Forli agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Falón 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.
Match7 Oct 2028
3 matches without a goal for Forli
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market9 Oct 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Klevis Hasanbelli has his answer from Forli; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market9 Oct 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Forli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Match7 Oct 2028
Guidonia Montecelio left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces14 Aug 2028
Supporters organise against the Forli board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market14 Aug 2028
“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 Forli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Aug 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Forli have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
The deal with Salernitana is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Falón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Aug 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Filippo Ercolani’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Alessandro Spinelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
A loan move for Davide Sorino is in the works
Forli have made the call to Inter. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Massimo Piras, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jul 2028
Elia Petrelli 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 Forli can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
Pressure builds in the Forli boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market31 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Elia Petrelli has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Forli is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Casertana; Forli go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Forli have done the hard part with Juventus, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Falón is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Forli can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Jul 2028
Forli sink to position 15
30 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market24 Jul 2028
Elia Petrelli has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Forli they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market24 Jul 2028
“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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
David Suazo’s move to Forli collapses on the table
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Vis Pesaro; Forli go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Forli
Ettore Contarato 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Falón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Forli asked and Venezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Narek Kostandyan commits to Forli for another 3 years.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“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 Forli know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces17 Jul 2028
The mood at Forli has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market17 Jul 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Forli have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Manuel Falón 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Forli asked and Altamura said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market17 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Filippo Ercolani’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Forli
Oddgeir Ingi Friðbjörnsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Vis Pesaro have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market17 Jul 2028
Forli have made Elia Petrelli available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 May 2028
Forli sink to position 15
30 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market29 May 2028
“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 Forli, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout29 May 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Forli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 May 2028
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Falón 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 dugout29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikoloz Tkalia, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Forli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad29 May 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Forli will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market29 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Diego Rossi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 May 2028
Anger at Forli spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market22 May 2028
“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 Forli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market22 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Elia Petrelli
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Elia Petrelli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Forli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Forli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 May 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Klevis Hasanbelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 May 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Falón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Filippo Ercolani’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad22 May 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Forli can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout22 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Forli's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Forli has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tobias Slotsager was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francesco Pio Attanasio commits to Forli for another 4 years.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“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 Forli know it.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Forli counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Forli now.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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.” Manuel Marino chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Forli told Francesco Pio Attanasio something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Emanuele Orlando out for 86 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match25 Dec 2027
5 matches without a win for Forli
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Forli are no longer polite ones.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Falón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match25 Dec 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match27 Dec 2027
Halfway: Forli sit in position 12
17 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Squad27 Dec 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Nicolas Accoroni, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad27 Dec 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikoloz Tkalia and Forli agree another 3 years.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Dec 2027
A hiding for Forli
Beaten 0‑5 by Pescara, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Falón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Doors closed at Forli
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Forli are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Forli
Alessandro Spinelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Beaten 5 times, 3 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filippo Ercolani, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Renate had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 24 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Forli until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Forli had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Spezia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Forli offered $51.0K; Perugia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Mikkel Jensen arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mikkel Jensen has, at Forli, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market6 Sep 2027
The Elia Petrelli conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Lecce will make the call about Elia Petrelli this week. Forli have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Falón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout6 Sep 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.