Marked for Gabriele Perretta
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
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.
Match27 Feb 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Tommaso Gabellini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Forli.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout1 Mar 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
At last: Forli win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Gubbio. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Elia Petrelli's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Wages eat 85% of everything Forli 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Feb 2027
Luca Martelli 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Forli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match13 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Forli's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Forli has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Gabriele Perretta's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ronald Peralta commits to Forli for another 3 years.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentino Coveri, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Robertino Giacomini takes the afternoon — 8.90
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Robertino Giacomini provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Riccardo Gaiola: 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Dec 2026
At last: Forli win one
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Pineto. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match26 Dec 2026
It finished 3‑2, and it was Robertino Giacomini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Forli.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 148% of everything Forli earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Gabriele Perretta was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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.
Match28 Dec 2026
Halfway: Forli sit in position 7
20 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
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Forli
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.
Match12 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Forli
4 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Pescara left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Forli needed to.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Forli, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 147% of the Forli income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jacopo Scaccabarozzi, and the manager let it.
Match28 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Forli against Perugia
0‑1 to Perugia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Nov 2026
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nicola Mandrelli 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Forli will feel it on Saturday.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Forli
Robertino Giacomini 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Whatever happens, Forli do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
Forli supporters have found a favourite in Matías Pérez
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Matías Pérez 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.48 on the card, and the Forli support went home talking about one name.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Daniel Theiner
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Match21 Nov 2026
Point won or two lost for Forli?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Torres? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Alessandro Giovannini, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luca Martelli, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Giacomo Verdi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match7 Nov 2026
Forli and Gubbio take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paolo Fabbri was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Forli dressing room was either.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Nobody at Forli is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Nicola Mandrelli 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Chances created: 6. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Davide Macrì: 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 147% of the Forli income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
He is 22 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Abdel Rachid Zagré’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Forli.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.72 on the card, and the Forli support went home talking about one name.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Paolo Fabbri could afford to be generous.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Francesco Menarini. Forli will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alessandro Giovannini did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Jacopo Scaccabarozzi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Forli.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alessandro Giovannini 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
7.92, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Forli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Forli 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Matteo Onofri makes the position his own
At 22 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching. Places at Forli are won quietly and lost loudly, and this one was won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Match17 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Diego Ripani is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Forli
Something was said to Matías Pérez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.47 on the card, and the Forli support went home talking about one name.
Match17 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Paolo Fabbri chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 49 days on the sidelines for Giacomo Verdi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicola Mandrelli, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Forli. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Nicola Farinelli keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Forli say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Giulio Veliaj 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 Giulio Veliaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Luca Martelli is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Robertino Giacomini. 1‑0 against Livorno, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 Sep 2026
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
7.72, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Forli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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.
Market21 Sep 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Luca Martelli may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Forli have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Forli have done the hard part with Union SG, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Forli asked and Avellino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Forli 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Deportivo Maldonado 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.30 on the card, and the Forli support went home talking about one name.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Forli asked and Farul Constanța said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A new face in his position, and Francesco Menarini suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Forli have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Brasil de Pelotas is saying, and nobody at Forli is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luca Martelli commits to Forli for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Forli
Robertino Giacomini 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Mirko Bruni joins the Forli first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mirko Bruni is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marcello Di Stefano has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Luigi Gamberini 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Riccardo Parisi 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Forli will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Luca Martelli 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 Luca Martelli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jacopo Scaccabarozzi and Forli agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Farul Constanța 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Dinamo Bucharest 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Brasil de Pelotas: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.