From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. 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 terraces22 Feb 2027
Supporters organise against the Empoli board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad22 Feb 2027
24 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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 Feb 2027
Whatever happens, Empoli 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 terraces22 Feb 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Carrarese made Empoli work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Marco Curto 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Empoli — 7.86
1 for Nicolas Haas, marked 7.86, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Empoli
Andrea Ghion and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Joseph Ceesay 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 targets15 Feb 2027
Empoli asked and Venezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match13 Feb 2027
Cesena made Empoli work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.56 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Gerard Yepes 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Empoli can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 44. 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Feb 2027
Luca Magnino hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Empoli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Empoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joseph Ceesay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match6 Feb 2027
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Tyronne Ebuehi
“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.
Loan watch8 Feb 2027
Jacopo Seghetti’s loan is measured in nothing happening
11 clean sheets from 24 appearances at Livorno. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Empoli
Patryk Peda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Feb 2027
AlbinoLeffe are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Empoli will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Empoli
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Empoli is running low.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
Market1 Feb 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 Empoli can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” AlbinoLeffe had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Empoli close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 4 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Empoli heard it as anything else.
Market1 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Gerard Yepes again, and this time the name on the line is Frosinone. Empoli are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Empoli
Filippo Bandinelli 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces25 Jan 2027
The mood at Empoli has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market25 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Empoli people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market25 Jan 2027
Gerard Yepes hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Empoli can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Empoli sell a favourite for $3.7M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Lorenzo Ignacchiti was one of the reasons people came, and $3.7M does not replace that by itself.
Squad25 Jan 2027
54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
Empoli say no — this time
The offer from Fiorentina for Lorenzo Ignacchiti 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Market18 Jan 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Empoli can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Market18 Jan 2027
Genoa pay $1.9M, 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Empoli
Filippo Bandinelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Lorenzo Ignacchiti 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 targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Empoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Filippo Bandinelli. 2‑1 against Sampdoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market18 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Empoli will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 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.
Match11 Jan 2027
Empoli sink to position 18
17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market11 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cavese waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Empoli is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Empoli have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Andrea Ghion 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 Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Lorenzo Ignacchiti 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 targets11 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match9 Jan 2027
Pietro Pellegri scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Venezia, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Empoli
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Empoli is running low.
Match2 Jan 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Frosinone, and it could have been more.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Empoli can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.90, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
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 Empoli can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Sassuolo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Empoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Ceesay 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
Uneasy
The terraces28 Dec 2026
The mood at Empoli has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Stiven Shpendi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Empoli.
The dugout28 Dec 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Roberto Marchetti, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
Jacopo Seghetti’s loan is measured in nothing happening
9 clean sheets from 18 appearances at Livorno. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Empoli counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Empoli now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Empoli
Andrea Ghion and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Empoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Curto 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 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Tyronne Ebuehi
“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 ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.33 on the card, and the Empoli support went home talking about one name.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Roberto Marchetti was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Empoli dressing room was either.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
8 shut-outs in 17 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Jacopo Seghetti has been having a lot of them.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Empoli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match14 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Empoli
Position 19 and 10 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.81, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Empoli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match12 Dec 2026
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Empoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joseph Ceesay 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stiven Shpendi. 2‑1 against Catanzaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Stiven Shpendi 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gerard Yepes, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Empoli's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Empoli has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Empoli
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Empoli hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market7 Dec 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Empoli have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Empoli
Filippo Bandinelli 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Joseph Ceesay 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Empoli board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market30 Nov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Empoli's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Empoli has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Empoli
Filippo Bandinelli 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Modena left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Empoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Curto 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Caldara, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Empoli counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Empoli now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Empoli
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Empoli
Andrea Ghion and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Joseph Ceesay 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Tyronne Ebuehi
“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
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Empoli
Position 20 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match14 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Empoli's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Empoli has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Nov 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Andrea Ghion 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 Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market16 Nov 2026
No place for Nicolas Haas in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nicolas Haas has his answer from Empoli; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout16 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Empoli 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
It needed Pietro Pellegri to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Reggiana, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Andrea Fulignati: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match4 Nov 2026
The small margins put Empoli out
Out, 2‑2 to Potenza, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market9 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Empoli can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Empoli
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Empoli are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bogdan Popov and Empoli agree another 5 years.
Match7 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Empoli against Spezia
0‑2 to Spezia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Empoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Curto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Empoli spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market2 Nov 2026
Filip Stanković wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Empoli hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Empoli
Filippo Bandinelli 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Empoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joseph Ceesay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Filip Stanković
“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
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.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Sassuolo to sit and watch. I want to come back to Empoli and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Joseph Ceesay 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
A goal on 90 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
7.69, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Empoli had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Market26 Oct 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Joaquín Ibáñez has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Empoli.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filippo Distefano, and the manager let it.
Match24 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
The drought breaks for Empoli
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Virtus Entella were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad19 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 Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Pietro Pellegri’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Empoli.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marco Nasti, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.86. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Roberto Marchetti on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Empoli will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Empoli
7 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Empoli
Martin Cedidla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Joseph Ceesay 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Carrarese, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
Doors closed at Empoli
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Empoli are still strangers to each other
16 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 dugout12 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
The numbers do not look good at Empoli
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Empoli
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Empoli are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gerard Yepes, and the manager let it.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“I watch every Empoli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sassuolo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Empoli
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Empoli are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Empoli
Andrea Ghion and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Empoli
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑2 to Juve Stabia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Caldara, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Marco Nasti 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 Marco Nasti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Sep 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Empoli
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Empoli are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Andrea Ghion 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 Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Empoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Ignacchiti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Sep 2026
Empoli come up short against Monza
Monza left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Empoli asked and Cesena said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Empoli 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.
The dugout21 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Roberto Marchetti to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Empoli
Filippo Bandinelli 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Empoli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lorenzo Ignacchiti 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Empoli asked and Parma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Filip Stanković
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Empoli
14 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Roberto Marchetti after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrea Fulignati trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 10 in, 3 out at Empoli
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 10 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Empoli asked and Boca Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolas Haas, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Empoli know which stage they are at.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nicolas Haas is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nicolas Haas 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Empoli
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The form table has caught Andrea Fulignati
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
Empoli spend $4.6M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $4.6M has been paid because Fernando Gorriarán is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$3.9M was the most the club would pay and AC Milan 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Empoli say no — this time
The offer from Picerno for Gabriele Indragoli 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.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Empoli spend $4.6M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $4.6M for Fernando Gorriarán, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad31 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 Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cesena have kept their man, and Empoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match29 Aug 2026
Empoli caught on 87 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Venezia scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match29 Aug 2026
It needed Pietro Pellegri to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Venezia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Tigres; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market24 Aug 2026
Empoli spend $7.6M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $7.6M has been paid because Martin Cedidla is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The offer went to AC Milan 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Empoli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad24 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 Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
3 academy graduates step up at Empoli
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Empoli spend $7.6M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $7.6M for Martin Cedidla, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Young Boys have kept their man, and Empoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Picerno have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gabriele Indragoli. The answer from Empoli has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Empoli and Jablonec have settled on $7.6M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market17 Aug 2026
Empoli pay Venezia $3.1M for a proper upgrade
Venezia did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $3.1M for Filip Stanković, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$730.0K was the most the club would pay and Torino 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Cittadella paid $1.0M and Empoli took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Filip Stanković from Venezia for $3.1M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Transfer targets17 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The formation has left Mattia Caldara behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Empoli will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Empoli
11 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Napoli wanted more than $13.4M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Bogdan Popov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Empoli asked and AS Roma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
An offer of $730.0K for Enzo Ebosse
Empoli have gone to Torino with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Stiven Shpendi and Empoli agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Empoli
Andrea Ghion and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Empoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Ignacchiti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Cittadella have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samuele Perisan. The answer from Empoli has not changed — yet.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lorenzo Ignacchiti, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Empoli asked and AS Roma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A move Francesco Cassata 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. Francesco Cassata is living that version at Empoli, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Empoli have gone to Venezia with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Market3 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Empoli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Filippo Bandinelli and Empoli agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Empoli
Andrea Ghion 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Francesco Cassata is back at Empoli, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Empoli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Fulignati was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Filippo Bandinelli’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.