From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Feb 2027
Elia Petrelli hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Forli can pretend not to have heard.
Match13 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Forli
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Forli
Gabriele Perretta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Pianese left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The team sheet said everything about Francesco Menarini
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Francesco Menarini.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Mandrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match6 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Forli
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Menarini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Forli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout8 Feb 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Level with 94 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Forli had all but put away. Guidonia Montecelio will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Half-satisfied: Manuel Donati on the draw
“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
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Catanzaro had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
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.
Match30 Jan 2027
5 matches without a win for Forli
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Forli are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Forli until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market1 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Daniel Theiner
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Theiner will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Forli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Forli have done the hard part with Colón, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match30 Jan 2027
Forli cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Forli cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Colón 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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Vis Pesaro waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Forli is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Forli
Gabriele Perretta 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
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Menarini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match16 Jan 2027
A bad afternoon for Forli against Livorno
0‑2 to Livorno, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Forli asked and Ferro Carril Oeste said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Forli have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Davide Macrì
“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
Crisis
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Forli
Gabriele Perretta 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
2‑3 to Vis Pesaro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Forli who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Manuel Donati after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match26 Dec 2026
The drought breaks for Forli
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Sambenedettese were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Forli
Gabriele Perretta 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 2‑1 win over Sambenedettese, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 147% 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.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
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.
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.
The dugout28 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Forli
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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Tommaso Gabellini at 20 — 7.60
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Tommaso Gabellini did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Forli come up short against Pineto
Pineto left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Forli
Diego Rossi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Dec 2026
Halfway: Forli sit in position 15
14 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Manuel Donati after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Riccardo Gaiola out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Dec 2026
6 matches without a win for Forli
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Forli are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Forli — 7.59
1 for Luigi Palomba, marked 7.59, 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.
Squad14 Dec 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Campobasso left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Raffaele Damico is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Dec 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Danilo Gatti 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.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicola Mandrelli 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
Crisis
Market7 Dec 2026
Elia Petrelli hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Forli can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Dec 2026
5 matches without a win for Forli
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Forli are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicola Farinelli and Forli agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Forli
Carlo De Risio and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Dec 2026
Forli come up short against Carpi
Carpi left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Carlo De Risio
“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
Crisis
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
33 days out for Riccardo Gaiola after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match28 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Forli
Gabriele Perretta 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Menarini 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.
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Forli against Ravenna
0‑1 to Ravenna, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lorenzo Saporetti, and the manager let it.
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Riccardo Gaiola out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.73, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Forli
Gabriele Perretta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Forli and Ascoli in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match21 Nov 2026
Forli come up short against Ascoli
Ascoli left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Nov 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Manuel Donati after 2‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad23 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Tommaso Gabellini, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.82
A mark of 7.82 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Forli — 7.82
1 for Francesco Menarini, marked 7.82, 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.
Squad16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Menarini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Late, late show earns Forli a point
Minute 87, against Pontedera, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout16 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.70 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Forli
Gabriele Perretta 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
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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Forli against Ternana
1‑2 to Ternana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Pietro Parise 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jacopo Scalise is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Iván López, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.00
A mark of 8.00 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Iván López’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Forli.
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jacopo Scaccabarozzi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad2 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.
In brief
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Squad
Words exchanged at Forli
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
The form table has caught Diego Rossi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match24 Oct 2026
Forli taken apart
0‑4 to Bra, 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Menarini 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.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
Doors closed at Forli
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Manuel Donati after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 1 saves does not settle it either way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Forli will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Daniel Theiner is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Pianese made Forli work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.96, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Manuel Donati could afford to be generous.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davide Macrì, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Valentino Coveri, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.01
A mark of 8.01 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 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 terraces12 Oct 2026
At 21 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Edoardo Dalla Valle is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Giorgio Fortunato 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Guidonia Montecelio, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Mandrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Forli
4 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
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 198% 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Perugia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Carlo De Risio
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Forli are still strangers to each other
8 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 dugout5 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
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match23 Sep 2026
The small margins put Forli out
Out, 1‑2 to Catania, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Menarini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 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.
The dugout28 Sep 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Luigi Palomba is still paying for one afternoon at Forli
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.
In brief
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Player ratings
One moment undoes Luigi Palomba
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Looking ahead
Forli take on the side everybody is chasing
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for Luigi Palomba
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match19 Sep 2026
Livorno left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Manuel Donati after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Mandrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Carlo De Risio 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.
The dugout21 Sep 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
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Sep 2026
Cruel end for Torres as Forli pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Forli scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad14 Sep 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Menarini 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
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chacarita Juniors have kept their man, and Forli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces14 Sep 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vincenzo De Carli is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Salvatore Marchetti 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Forli close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 0 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 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Forli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Menarini 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 targets7 Sep 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Matteo Onofri
“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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 7.63 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.75 for the rest of it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Maipú is saying, and nobody at Forli is enjoying the guessing.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets31 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Forli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Mandrelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 Aug 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout31 Aug 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.” Manuel Donati chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Forli asked and Spezia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Forli training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Menarini 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 targets24 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Maipú: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Forli say no to the training-ground money
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Forli will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Forli offered $1.1M; Arezzo said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Forli had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Llaneros, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
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.
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 Progreso 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
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.
Transfer targets10 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Armando Guerra 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. Filippo Montanari 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. Arturo Serafini 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Silvio Parise 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.
The dugout10 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
An offer of $290.0K for Agustín Paz
Forli have gone to Progreso 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.
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
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.