My latest for @gentlemanultra.bsky.social reflecting on yet another premature exit from the Coppa Italia for Hellas Verona. www.gentlemanultra.com/2025/10/02/n...

Miguel Gutiérrez was really impressive despite the disappointing result for Napoli. Always demanding the ball, pushing high up the field and pressing well. Looks an excellent signing.

An almighty struggle but Europe finally get over the line. The US was always going to do better in the singles than the pairs. Absolutely disgraceful conduct from the crowds again, pathetic stuff from noises during backswings to 'get in the bunker.' Shame they weren't all thrown out.

Milan defended extremely well to hang on for the win. Modric brilliant. Tough debut for Marianucci. No doubt about the penalty or red card. Lang and Neres should have been on sooner. Rabiot lucky to escape a red. An utterly compelling game.

It's not as if Napoli haven't created anything, the Anguissa header, Di Lorenzo half chance and McTominay penalty claim, but they've been far too open at the back. Changes needed at the break. Beukema, Lang and Lucca.

Napoli sliced open far too easily again. Great move and finish from Pulisic. Conte really has to look at this formation, it hasn't really functioned well despite the opening results. Poor team selection as well. Milan could easily be three up. Fofana should have scored when clean through.

Nightmare start for Napoli. Marianucci completely caught out. Injuries and rotation aside you have to wonder why Conte picked such an unlikely centre-back pairing. Once again I would prefer Patrick Kendrick and Manu Pascali on commentary.

A lot of hype, justifiably or not, about Camarda. Good to see that he claimed his first senior goal for Lecce. Disappointing for Bologna to concede so late on, they really should have done enough to win. Lewis Ferguson understandably frustrated at the end.

Some big names not contributing much or indeed anything at all in the Ryder Cup.

Despite the over the top abuse from the overly patriotic home crowd Europe absolutely dominated in the Ryder Cup. An absolute pumping. Scheffler failed to turn up. Fleetwood and Rose brilliant again. MacIntyre bounced back. A relative stroll. Great to watch.

An incredible Scottish Premiership table. Hearts top, Aberdeen bottom, just ahead of Rangers, and Hibs and Motherwell still unbeaten. Had to check it a few times. Still very early on though, expect Celtic to prevail again. Covered Scottish football as a reporter for years when it wasn't competitive.

In a week that the club issued a statement that the target was to return to Serie A by 2028, Sampdoria finally get a point on the board at Bari. Still bottom of Serie B though. Worst start in club history. Woeful. Shame it's virtually impossible to watch Samp games anywhere.

Credit to Justin Thomas for telling the crowd to be quiet as Rory McIlroy was about to putt. Some absolutely disgraceful behaviour from the drunken troglodytes watching. Ridiculous. It's not going to make any difference what they say with Europe well ahead and on course to win easily.

Juventus still unbeaten but resemble the same side of last season that couldn't convert chances when it really mattered. Atalanta defended and countered relatively well. They'll never reach the heights of the Gasperini era again sadly. Excellent game.

Great first day for Europe in the Ryder Cup. Some of the US big hitters failed to show up and the usual rabble of tanked up idiots shouting out nonsense. Far from creating an atmosphere they just cause an unwanted distraction. They don't add anything to the occasion. Rahm and Fleetwood immense.

It's been a good few days for the Scots in Italy. Lennon Miller joined Billy Gilmour in scoring his first goal in Italy. A routine header as Udinese defeated Palermo in the Coppa Italia. A very encouraging start for Miller who has the potential to play for a much bigger club in the near future.

Very late to this, time difference, Monday game etc, but it's Napoli's deep squad that will give them the advantage over most other clubs. Fantastic to see Billy Gilmour score his first goal as well. A great reward for his patience. Very skilfully converted as well.

Buena Park, California.

That's it unfortunately for Donati. Four successive Serie B defeats to start the season. Not entirely his fault, poor recruitment. Strange team selections though. Coucke for Ghidotti in goal. Bring back Evani and Lombardo. Sampdoria bottom of the second tier without a point. Ridiculous. #Sampdoria

Ciurria sent off. Sampdoria might actually have a chance to claim an elusive first victory now. Both teams reduced to 10 men. Not much football, plenty of fouls, some legitimate, others questionable. Of course Monza score. Coucke mistake. Abysmal. #MonzaSampdoria

Apart from the missed penalty and red card, a decent half for Sampdoria. Expectations not high after such a terrible start to the season. Neither side created much. Far too many nonexistent fouls. Cherubini very unlucky to be dismissed. Izzo made the most of it. #MonzaSampdoria

Just when you think things can't get any worse. Cherubini wins a penalty, Barak misses. Then Cherubini red carded after an incident with Izzo. Some wonderful acting by the veteran Monza defender. Sampdoria in yet another difficult position.

Last chance for Donati as winless Sampdoria attempt to move off the bottom of the Serie B table at Monza. Hadzikadunic makes his debut in defence, Coucke in goal again, and Cherubini starts. Huge game for Samp. Watch the game live and free @destinationcalcio.bsky.social

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is one of those documentaries that you wonder why the participants agreed to be on film. Small town and 15 minutes of fame I suppose. A preposterous, disturbing story. Not even sure why I watched it. Odd direction often asks the wrong questions. Not great.

Very good start for Pisacane and Cagliari. Belotti back scoring again, great to see. Lecce are going to find it extremely difficult this season. Already down at the bottom without a win.

The constant need for comparisons, especially in tv and films, is really tiring. I really enjoyed The Paper. Of course it was never going to be a carbon copy of The Office, that would be utterly pointless. Some great episodes, stories and characters.

A debut goal for Sam Beukema as well. A great signing who will only improve under Conte. Napoli out of sight now.

Napoli really could have pushed harder for a third goal. Fiorentina really disappointing until the last 15 minutes of the first half. Some mightily impressive individual performances. Anguissa immense yet again, such a great all-rounder and Spinazzola back to the old version of himself at times.

A historic low. Sampdoria lose their opening three games in the second tier. Perhaps I underestimated the task facing Donati. Last plug (sorry) for my article on Samp's prospects this season, written prior to the Cesena defeat. Desperate times. stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2025/09/13/t...

Sampdoria actually score a goal. Deflected but still a goal. A brief moment of light in an otherwise tortuous watch.

A lot of aggression and pressing as Napoli go two up at Fiorentina. Brilliant start. Hojlund already on target on his debut. The Dane was never a bad player, just shows what can be achieved in a better team with top class players.

Milinkovic-Savic, Beukema and Buongiorno start in defence for Napoli. Arguably their strongest central defence with all due respect to Rrahmani. Hojlund picked over Lucca. Unexpected team selection from Conte in some ways.

Sampdoria trail Cesena at half-time. Some positive aspects, Pedrola's runs on the left flank and Liam Henderson's set-piece deliveries but defensive concerns yet again. Great free-kick from Castagnetti for Cesena's goal. Heavy rain at Marassi not helping either side. #Sampdoria

Adžić wins it for the Bianconeri with another stunner. What a debut goal in a match of brilliant strikes. Another Derby d'Italia classic. #JuventusInter

What a game. Both Thuram brothers score with headers as their father, former Parma and Juve great Lilian Thuram watches on. #JuventusInter

A game of fantastic goals. Another brilliant strike from Çalhanoğlu. Great combination of technique and execution.

Meant to write a season preview, but here's a piece on Sampdoria. It's going to be another long season. Grateful to be able to watch Samp v Cesena free on @DstnCalcio today. Roberto Mancini will be at Marassi watching apparently. Read here: stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2025/09/13/t...

What a brilliant long distance goal from Yildiz. Absolute beauty. He's emerged as Juve’s main man in the last two seasons. Really great to watch.

Please turn the ref camera off. Do we really need ultra close-ups of the player's faces and hairlines? Too much. #JuventusInter

Brilliant Çalhanoğlu strike to bring Inter deservedly level. His supposed weaker foot as well. Game on.

The most unexpected goalscorer in the Derby d'Italia. A very good finish from Lloyd Kelly, who hasn't always found it easy at the Old Lady. Not sure about the ref cam, adds nothing to the viewing experience.

Meant to write a season preview, but here's a piece on Sampdoria. It's going to be another long season. Grateful to be able to watch Samp v Cesena free on @DstnCalcio today. Roberto Mancini will be at Marassi watching apparently. Read here: stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2025/09/13/t...

Meant to write a season preview, but here's a piece on Sampdoria. It's going to be another long season. Grateful to be able to watch Samp v Cesena for free on the @destinationcalcio.bsky.social app later today. Forza Samp! Read the article here: stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2025/09/13/t...

A look back at the documentary The Witches of the Orient (2021). The incredible story of a Japanese volleyball team - coached by a fearsome Jim McLean style disciplinarian - that made it all the way to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Read my review here: stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2021/07/23/t...

Last plug for my review of Review of South Korean fantasy film Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy 전지적 독자 시점 (2025), an ambitious, puzzling, visually stunning epic. Starring Lee Min-ho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Nana, Blackpink's Jisoo and Kwon Eun-song. Read here: stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/o...

Review of South Korean fantasy film Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy 전지적 독자 시점 (2025), an ambitious, puzzling, visually stunning epic. Starring Lee Min-ho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Nana, Blackpink's Jisoo and the brilliant young Kwon Eun-song. Read here: stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/o...

Debatable team selection and a long wait for subs but Napoli got there in the end. Anguissa showed his worth yet again.

Review of South Korean fantasy film Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy 전지적 독자 시점 (2025), an ambitious, puzzling, visually stunning epic. Starring Lee Min-ho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Nana, Blackpink's Jisoo and the brilliant young Kwon Eun-song. Read here: stephenkasiewicz.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/o...

Cremonese survive a Sassuolo comeback, get a rather dodgy penalty - won by Romano Floriani Mussolini, great-grandson of Benito Mussolini - and now sit at the top of Serie A, albeit temporarily. Best league in the world.

Great to see Cremonese doing so well on their return to Serie A. Two goals up at home to Sassuolo after last week's shock win at Milan. Samp greats Gianluca Vialli and Attilio Lombardo both played for the club before moving to the Blucerchiati.