Marked for Oliver Abildgaard
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Francesco Conti is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Salvatore Esposito 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 Aug 2027
At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabio Depaoli 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 dugout16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tjaš Begić, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Tjaš Begić gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Tjaš Begić is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sampdoria have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market9 Aug 2027
The chase for Alex Morales ended with $700.0K changing hands and Virtus Entella out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Fabio Depaoli 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Saud Haroun 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 Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market9 Aug 2027
The name of Yari Verschaeren keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sampdoria say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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 Oliver Abildgaard has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Aug 2027
Salvatore Esposito and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Leonardo Rodella is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
$230.0K was the most the club would pay and Alcione Milano were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market2 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Sampdoria will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad2 Aug 2027
7 new faces, and Sampdoria 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 dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Linares
“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 dugout2 Aug 2027
Gaëtan Coucke gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gaëtan Coucke is on it.
Market2 Aug 2027
Sampdoria have made Mattia Viti available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sampdoria have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Rodrigo Linares: 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.” Sampdoria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
$1.2M was the most the club would pay and Pisa were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad26 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 Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabio Depaoli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The formation has left Saud Haroun behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Sampdoria will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market26 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Manuel Cicconi signs something — a contract at Sampdoria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sampdoria. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The offer went to Pisa 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Salvatore Esposito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The offer went to Alcione Milano 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Fabio Depaoli 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Sampdoria will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout19 Jul 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.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
When it matters, Tjaš Begić plays
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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Mattia Viti linked with a move away
The name of Mattia Viti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sampdoria say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Sampdoria have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Karim Diop: 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.” Sampdoria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market12 Jul 2027
The phone has started ringing about Rodrigo Linares again, and this time the name on the line is Vicenza. Sampdoria are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market12 Jul 2027
AlbinoLeffe pay $1.2M, 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Sampdoria
Salvatore Esposito and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout12 Jul 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Conti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
90% of the income goes out in wages at Sampdoria
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The name of Yari Verschaeren keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sampdoria say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Vicenza waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sampdoria is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market28 Jun 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sampdoria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Jun 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 Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 20 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Linares, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Francesco Conti 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Manuel Cicconi signs something — a contract at Sampdoria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
Sampdoria say no — this time
The offer from Torres for Rodrigo Linares 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Salvatore Esposito 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 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Conti 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
Tjaš Begić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sampdoria 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Mattia Viti linked with a move away
The name of Mattia Viti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sampdoria say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout21 Jun 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 Sampdoria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
36 appearances at Avellino and the goals keep coming. Sampdoria are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sampdoria have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market14 Jun 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 Sampdoria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Jun 2027
The name of Rodrigo Linares has come up in conversations Sampdoria were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yari Verschaeren and Sampdoria agree another 4 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvatore Esposito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Jun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Sampdoria
Oliver Abildgaard 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.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
95% of the income goes out in wages at Sampdoria
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 dugout14 Jun 2027
Mattia Viti 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
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad24 May 2027
Oliver Abildgaard 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 dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Liam Henderson
“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 dugout24 May 2027
When it matters, Tjaš Begić plays
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.
Market24 May 2027
Mattia Viti linked with a move away
The name of Mattia Viti keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sampdoria say nothing, which says plenty.
Loan watch24 May 2027
36 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout24 May 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sampdoria. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad24 May 2027
The penny has dropped for Matteo Palma
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Sampdoria the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Squad24 May 2027
Salvatore Esposito is training like a man with a point to make
Nobody has promised him anything and he has not asked. The coaching staff have noticed, which at this stage of a season is the only thing that matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 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 Sampdoria heard it as anything else.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvatore Esposito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match10 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicholas Pierini. 1‑0 against Virtus Entella, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes of Nicholas Pierini at his very best
Marked 8.26. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sampdoria.
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 Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Carlo Russo: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Francesco Conti
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match3 Apr 2027
Sampdoria win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Carrarese will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match3 Apr 2027
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Carrarese. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match3 Apr 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Liam Henderson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sampdoria.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Henderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes of Liam Henderson at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sampdoria.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Yari Verschaeren was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Feb 2027
Südtirol will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Sampdoria were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A brace, and Nicholas Pierini takes the afternoon — 8.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicholas Pierini provided it, and the 8.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sampdoria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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 terraces8 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Tjaš Begić has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad8 Feb 2027
50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sampdoria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
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.
Market18 Jan 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Mattia Viti wants continental football; whether Sampdoria can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Mattia Viti
“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.
Match16 Jan 2027
A 2‑0 win over Empoli, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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 Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Lorenzo Insigne named player of the week
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The dugout
Tjaš Begić gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicholas Pierini
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sampdoria lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Market4 Jan 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 Sampdoria can pretend not to have heard.
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Sampdoria
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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Sampdoria
Salvatore Esposito 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
The goals have deserted Sampdoria
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sampdoria can tell you which week it ends in.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Tjaš Begić again, and this time the name on the line is Mladost Lucani. Sampdoria are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sampdoria are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicholas Pierini
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sampdoria lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for Sampdoria
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sampdoria are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Sampdoria
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sampdoria can tell you which week it ends in.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 149% of everything Sampdoria 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Reggiana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Dec 2026
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Lorenzo Insigne, 35, rolls back the years — 8.60
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.60 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Tjaš Begić runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvatore Esposito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Peter Vindahl, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Nicholas Pierini at his very best
Marked 8.32. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sampdoria.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Sampdoria
Oliver Abildgaard 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Sampdoria caught on 92 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Mantova scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rodrigo Linares is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Match5 Dec 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
In brief
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Squad
A place in the month's best eleven for Manuel Cicconi
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The terraces
The glare is on Peter Vindahl
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
Liam Henderson damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
9 matches without a win for Sampdoria
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Sampdoria are no longer polite ones.
Match14 Nov 2026
0‑3 to Cesena, 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salvatore Esposito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Sasha Cernic 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Sampdoria
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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francesco Conti and Sampdoria agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Sampdoria 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Carlo Russo was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Sampdoria dressing room was either.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Sampdoria take on the side everybody is chasing
Monza arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Leonardo Rodella is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 230% of everything Sampdoria earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Diop, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Tjaš Begić at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sampdoria.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Oliver Abildgaard was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Karim Diop wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Sampdoria will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Frosinone leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Sampdoria
0‑0 against Gubbio, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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 Sampdoria 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Südtirol, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Liam Henderson 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
Twelve yards and the whole ground holding its breath, and it did not go in. He will put his name down for the next one, which is the only thing to do.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Sampdoria
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Carlo Russo to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
500 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sasha Cernic and Sampdoria agree another 3 years.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Linares, and the manager let it.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Nicholas Pierini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sampdoria.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Francesco Conti 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.68 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Sampdoria had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.” Carlo Russo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Tjaš Begić had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sampdoria have done the hard part with Blackburn Rovers, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
1 academy players handed senior numbers at Sampdoria
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Salvatore Esposito 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 targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ruggero Villa 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Sampdoria turn down the training-ground plan
It is the quietest way a club tells you what its ambitions are. The money was asked for, the money was refused, and the people who work there every day now know exactly where they stand.
Looking ahead24 Aug 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nicholas Pierini’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sampdoria needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Lechia come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sampdoria did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Aug 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 Sampdoria heard it as anything else.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lorenzo Insigne commits to Sampdoria for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Salvatore Esposito 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Oliver Abildgaard 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sampdoria, another week without a signature from Lorenzo Insigne.