Marked for Carlo De Risio
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Apr 2029
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match23 Apr 2029
The view from the top for Ascoli
85 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Ascoli
Federico Gattoni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Ascoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Augusto Bando 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 Augusto Bando is on it.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlo De Risio, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Samuele Vitale knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ascoli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market23 Apr 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ascoli know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ascoli. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market27 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad27 Nov 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 Ascoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Corradini 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 dugout27 Nov 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Simone D'Uffizi
10 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Looking ahead27 Nov 2028
The big one: Ravenna come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Ascoli will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Ninety minutes of Simone D'Uffizi 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 Ascoli.
Squad27 Nov 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Filippo Basile and Ascoli agree another 4 years.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market13 Nov 2028
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Ascoli can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Ascoli
Federico Gattoni 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Ascoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonardo Bovio 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.
Match11 Nov 2028
Ascoli make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match11 Nov 2028
Livorno made Ascoli work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlo De Risio, and the manager let it.
Loan watch13 Nov 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ascoli, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Sep 2028
Daniele Valentini damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cremonese waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ascoli is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Andrea Corbari 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. Andrea Corbari has, at Ascoli, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 16 gone
That is the business done at Ascoli 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Ascoli
Federico Gattoni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
$30.0K was the most the club would pay and Cittadella 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.
Match2 Sep 2028
Campobasso made Ascoli work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Ascoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Corradini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Aug 2028
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ascoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match7 Aug 2028
Ascoli up to position 2
72 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paradou have kept their man, and Ascoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Aug 2028
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.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Ascoli had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Monopoli, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
The deal with Milton Keynes Dons 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Ascoli
Federico Gattoni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Aug 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
Steady
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lumezzane keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Jul 2028
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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi has improved at 33, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Napoli have kept their man, and Forli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Richie Sagrado knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Forli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Alessandro Spinelli falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market17 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gabriele Baldi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market17 Jul 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 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.
Market10 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 targets10 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Forli have done the hard part with Lumezzane, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Matteo Vescovi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad10 Jul 2028
Francesco Menarini 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Manuel Tonni and Forli agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Jul 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
Steady
Market3 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.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad3 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Jul 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Forli has been clear about where Jacopo Scaccabarozzi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Perugia: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artem Krainyk commits to Forli for another 3 years.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Intake day at the Forli academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Squad3 Jul 2028
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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Riccardo Gaiola is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jun 2028
Carlo De Risio 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Francesco Menarini falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Luca Martelli
“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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to Napoli: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Roberto Messina and Forli agree another 3 years.
Market19 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gabriele Baldi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Carlo De Risio knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Forli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clock does Davide Macrì’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Forli could ask drops and the wages Davide Macrì can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jun 2028
Torino come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Forli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market12 Jun 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.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with AC Milan, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi 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 Jun 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout12 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicola Farinelli, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Gaiola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
Luca Martelli 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
The name of Federico Terlizzi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Forli say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jun 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
The name of Alessandro Seghetti has come up in conversations Forli were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The deal with Bra 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richie Sagrado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Richie Sagrado, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Matteo Rabuffi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicola Farinelli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
The dugout22 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 May 2028
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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriele Baldi 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 dugout22 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Matteo Rabuffi
“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 dugout22 May 2028
Diego Rossi knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Rossi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gabriele Baldi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market22 May 2028
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Forli could get for him.
Market22 May 2028
Bari had somebody in the stand with a notebook, and he was not there for the pies. Watching is free; the next step is not.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 May 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.
Market15 May 2028
Davide Macrì 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words exchanged at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Richie Sagrado falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marcello Peretti and Forli agree another 3 years.
Squad15 May 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yevhenii Stepanchuk, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 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.
Market15 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Luca Martelli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Forli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nahuel Arias and Forli agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad8 May 2028
Richie Sagrado falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giovanni Carbone, and the manager let it.
Squad8 May 2028
Forli are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout8 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francesco Menarini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 May 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alessandro Seghetti signs something — a contract at Forli or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 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 dugout1 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad1 May 2028
Salvatore Ottieri 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. Salvatore Ottieri has, at Forli, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad1 May 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Martelli 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 dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Luca Martelli
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Salvatore Ottieri and Forli agree another 3 years.
Market1 May 2028
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market1 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Federico Valentini’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
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.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Forli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriele Baldi 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
0‑1 to Campobasso, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Menarini, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Too much change too quickly at Forli
8 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Mar 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad27 Mar 2028
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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Diego Rossi 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.
Match25 Mar 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Cristiano Parise left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Federico Terlizzi is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Luca Martelli: 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.” Forli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Andrea Luongo, 20, steals the show — 8.20
Marked 8.20 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad13 Mar 2028
21 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market13 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Carlo De Risio
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlo De Risio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Forli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad13 Mar 2028
Gabriele Baldi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces13 Mar 2028
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match11 Mar 2028
Pontedera made Forli work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
In brief
-
Player ratings
Alessandro Seghetti was on a different afternoon to everybody else
-
Squad
Forli are still strangers to each other
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
A brace, and Alessandro Seghetti takes the afternoon — 8.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alessandro Seghetti provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market6 Mar 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
20 goals and a season average of 7.25. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and Forli agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A move Manuel Tonni would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Manuel Tonni is living that version at Forli, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match4 Mar 2028
Ternana left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicola Anelli, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Feb 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Carlo De Risio 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.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Forli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Davide Macrì ran the middle of the pitch — 6.68
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 17 combined actions and a mark of 6.68, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Rossi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Feb 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
No sign of nerves from Andrea Luongo at 19 — 8.18
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andrea Luongo did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market7 Feb 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Forli close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad7 Feb 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Nicholas Belloni 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. Nicholas Belloni has, at Forli, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriele Baldi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Feb 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrea Luongo. 2‑1 against Guidonia Montecelio, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces7 Feb 2028
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Forli.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Jan 2028
A hiding for Forli
Beaten 0‑3 by Livorno, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market17 Jan 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.
Match15 Jan 2028
4 matches without a win for Forli
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Forli are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Davide Macrì has agreed terms with Lecce for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Match15 Jan 2028
4 matches without a goal for Forli
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriele Baldi 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 dugout17 Jan 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
Crisis
Match8 Jan 2028
Forli taken apart
0‑3 to Torres, 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.
Market10 Jan 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Jan 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richie Sagrado 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.
Match8 Jan 2028
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 dugout10 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Gabriele Baldi
“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.
Boardroom10 Jan 2028
Nobody left the Forli dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match18 Dec 2027
Forli win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Pineto will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market20 Dec 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 Forli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richie Sagrado 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.
Match18 Dec 2027
Forli get the job done against Pineto
A 2‑1 win over Pineto, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces20 Dec 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Richie Sagrado 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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Richie Sagrado
“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.
Match20 Dec 2027
Halfway: Forli sit in position 11
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Dec 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 Forli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Dec 2027
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Squad6 Dec 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 Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Richie Sagrado falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces6 Dec 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout6 Dec 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.
Match4 Dec 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alessandro Seghetti. 1‑0 against Carpi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Voices raised on the Forli training ground
Two players, one bad tackle and a session that had to be stopped. It was over in a minute; it was outside the gates in an hour.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Forli had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match20 Nov 2027
A hiding for Forli
Beaten 1‑6 by Ascoli, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market22 Nov 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Forli
Jacopo Scaccabarozzi 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
7 goals as Forli and Ascoli go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Forli and Ascoli, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richie Sagrado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
The game went through Richie Sagrado — 7.28
Marked 7.28 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicola Farinelli, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Nov 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 Forli can pretend not to have heard.
Match8 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Forli
Position 16 and 8 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.
Squad8 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 Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Richie Sagrado falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout8 Nov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alessandro Spinelli and Forli agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Cristiano Parise after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
A promise honoured at Forli
Something was said to Gabriele Baldi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.