Faramir Posted September 9, 2004 Author Share Posted September 9, 2004 Did I ever expect to wind up here? No, silly girl- of course I did not. I, Lorenzo Fabbrini, thought I would live my life as the manager of a small Italian olive grove. The contest was what started it all... The old saying "Be careful what you wish for..." is very true. Like every other male in the community (and some of the females I am sure) I entered the 'Manager for a Day' contest that San Marino announced. It was a lark and though the community loved the idea- the current manager- Mirko Fabbri- hated it and fought hard against it. When the day arrived that they announced the winner, I really wasn't paying any attention. I had forgotten to even put on the radio and was instead out working in the orchard. It was a bit surprising to suddenly see the caravan of cars arriving at the house. By the time I had made my way there- the television crews had set up their cameras and everyone was yammering at me. I still had no clue what was going on. Finally, Danilo Rossini- the Chairman- made his way to me and told me that I had won the contest. I was astounded, but very excited. Had I played football? Oh, like most I had played when younger. I had even made my way on to the San Marino reserve side for a couple of seasons. My playing limitations were all too evident though and I had given it up to find a way to make a better living. Yes, the dream still lurked in me- you are correct in that regards- but did I think anything would stir it back up and bring it to life? No, I couldn't have seen it in my wildest thoughts at the time. After the hoopla of the press coverage died down, Chairman Rossini offered me a ride down to the practice facility. When we arrived there, he wanted to introduce me to Fabbri, and went to get him. The next thing I knew they were having a heated exchange outside of Fabbri's office. It was clear that the Chairman was incensed with Fabbri and that Fabbri was furious at the Chairman. I heard Fabbri tell Chairman Rossini what he thought of both him and his offspring (no I can not repeat the words, this is a family resteraunt). The Chairman then said- and I can remember these words quite clearly, since they changed my life- "Our contest winner could manage this club more effectively than you can- and now that I think about it, I would prefer that he do so. You are fired." No, I don't think he really had the confidence that I would succeed- do you really think that he would of someone he had plucked from an orchard only an hour before? Still, he wasn't one to back off on his words and he immediately took me to his office and offered me a contract (quite generous I thought then- but it must have been a pittance in his mind) to manage the club for a season. It may have been just his pride that gave me the chance, but I bless God for giving him that pride, and for giving me the opportunity. Starting with CM 01-02 .68, Italy active and Spain/France running in background. I have always wanted to manage Castel di Sangro (I love the name) and chose it over my favorite San Marino (partly because it would have been harder to make this story work well with San Marino). I didn't look closely enough to discover that Castel di Sangro is Serie C1B, which is equivalent of C1A- so I started anew with San Marino in C2B after all. I have edited this intro to include the correct names. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 9, 2004 Share Posted September 9, 2004 Did I ever expect to wind up here? No, silly girl- of course I did not. I, Lorenzo Fabbrini, thought I would live my life as the manager of a small Italian olive grove. The contest was what started it all... The old saying "Be careful what you wish for..." is very true. Like every other male in the community (and some of the females I am sure) I entered the 'Manager for a Day' contest that San Marino announced. It was a lark and though the community loved the idea- the current manager- Mirko Fabbri- hated it and fought hard against it. When the day arrived that they announced the winner, I really wasn't paying any attention. I had forgotten to even put on the radio and was instead out working in the orchard. It was a bit surprising to suddenly see the caravan of cars arriving at the house. By the time I had made my way there- the television crews had set up their cameras and everyone was yammering at me. I still had no clue what was going on. Finally, Danilo Rossini- the Chairman- made his way to me and told me that I had won the contest. I was astounded, but very excited. Had I played football? Oh, like most I had played when younger. I had even made my way on to the San Marino reserve side for a couple of seasons. My playing limitations were all too evident though and I had given it up to find a way to make a better living. Yes, the dream still lurked in me- you are correct in that regards- but did I think anything would stir it back up and bring it to life? No, I couldn't have seen it in my wildest thoughts at the time. After the hoopla of the press coverage died down, Chairman Rossini offered me a ride down to the practice facility. When we arrived there, he wanted to introduce me to Fabbri, and went to get him. The next thing I knew they were having a heated exchange outside of Fabbri's office. It was clear that the Chairman was incensed with Fabbri and that Fabbri was furious at the Chairman. I heard Fabbri tell Chairman Rossini what he thought of both him and his offspring (no I can not repeat the words, this is a family resteraunt). The Chairman then said- and I can remember these words quite clearly, since they changed my life- "Our contest winner could manage this club more effectively than you can- and now that I think about it, I would prefer that he do so. You are fired." No, I don't think he really had the confidence that I would succeed- do you really think that he would of someone he had plucked from an orchard only an hour before? Still, he wasn't one to back off on his words and he immediately took me to his office and offered me a contract (quite generous I thought then- but it must have been a pittance in his mind) to manage the club for a season. It may have been just his pride that gave me the chance, but I bless God for giving him that pride, and for giving me the opportunity. Starting with CM 01-02 .68, Italy active and Spain/France running in background. I have always wanted to manage Castel di Sangro (I love the name) and chose it over my favorite San Marino (partly because it would have been harder to make this story work well with San Marino). I didn't look closely enough to discover that Castel di Sangro is Serie C1B, which is equivalent of C1A- so I started anew with San Marino in C2B after all. I have edited this intro to include the correct names. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted September 9, 2004 Share Posted September 9, 2004 Great intro Mike. At least you won't have McGuiness loking over your shoulder offering bad advice! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 11, 2004 Author Share Posted September 11, 2004 The Chairman did have one stipulation when he offered me the contract. He told me I must buy only players with Italian citizenship, because that was one of the issues of dispute with ex-Manager Fabbri. Since we did not have any transfer funding to start with- it just meant letting my scout know that they were only looking for Italian players. There were many initial doubts about the idea of me managing San Marino. Those intensified after I started transfer listing many veteran players. Even then I had a clear idea of the attacking system I wanted to play and I also had a good idea on the type of players I needed to make it work. To get some of those players we needed to have some transfer funds- the only way to get those was to clear out the roster of the higher value players who weren't going to be good fits. Doing so led many in the press to question my sanity- but we did manage to build up a base of 350K as a transfer fund by selling many players and signing on free many unattached players who showed promise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 A capsule glimpse of the club at the start of 2001 campaign: Keepers and Backline Alberto Pomini 20 yr old GK- he would be starting GK, but would split time as needed Sauro Fabbri 33 yr old GK- backup GK, but I expected to start him a lot to spell Pomini Alessandro Della Valla 19 yr old DRL- starting leftback with promising future Antonio Martorella 31 yr old D/DMRL- cover for both fullbacks, but especially for leftback Paolo Asseta 27 yr old DR- starting rightback Marco Piccioni 25 yr old DRC- cover at rightback and in the middle Mattia Salami 19 yr old DR- promising rightback that might see a little senior time Luca Venturi 22 yr old DC- starting central defender, but if I can find a better one would move back to bench Emmanuele Fiore 20 yr old D/SC- acquired in part exchange for forward Federico Lauria and moves right into a starting role in our central defense Rocco Crippa 34 yr old DC- veteran central defender who should still see a lot of playing time Luca Suprani 21 yr old DRC- cover for both central defense and rightback *** Midfielders Simone Viroli 25 yr old MLC- starting leftwing- his passing and crossing should be a big help for us Mario Lusardi 21 yr old MRL- cover for either wing, but leftfooted- so best on leftside- dual Italian/English citizenship Tiziano Quarta 22 yr old AML- cover for lefting- dual Belgian/Italian citizenship Raffael Merzek 20 yr old MC- key player on the club- starting holder midfielder- great tackler and passer and we were fortunate to sign him on free (many clubs wanted him) Daniele De Battisti 22 yr old DMLC- cover for Merzek, but not anywhere near as talented as him Antonio Donati 19 yr old AMC- likely our playmaker- good scouting found him on free list- wizard with the ball on his feet Matteo Olivieri 18 yr old AMC- cover for Donati- also very good with the ball, but lacks some of the good secondary skills that Donati has Paolo Rossi 17 yr old FRC- more cover for Donati, Olivieri- needs to work on some skills, but looks like a worthwhile member of the squad Stefano Serafini 22 yr old MRC- another free signing- very promising player according to scouts, but I still have some doubts on how well he will fit in with our attack Michele Salafrica 21 yr old MRLC- one of the best players on the club when I took over- should be starting somewhere in our midfield Kevin Centorame 18 yr old AMR- could get some starting time on rightwing- dual Belgian/Italian citizenship- very good at crossing Stefano Scaricamazza 21 yr old AMR- needs to work on some skills, but good with the ball at present- cover for rightwing *** Forwards Gianmarco Agostinelli 20 yr old SC- signed on free after released by Napoli- promising striker who I hope will provide much needed scoring Enrico Penta 18 yr old SC- purchased from Theine for 24K- appeared to be one of the best young forwards my scouts looked at, so was worth paying the price to purchase him- should be starting forward for us Alessandro Sanna 21 yr old SC- signed on free because of good scouting reports- should be in forward rotation, but may not be an everyday starter Davide Luciani 18 yr old SC- signed on free after released by Roma- good prospect from Roma youth program- may well be a starter, but haven't seen enough of him yet to determine that Alessandro Parla 19 yr old FL- received as part of exchange for midfielder Giuseppe De Feudis- has a scorer's touch, but lacks some of the other skills that would make him a certain starter for us Pietro Di Giorgio 18 yr old SC- the only one of the original forwards I really liked enough to keep- will see some playing time, but not sure if he can score well enough to help us Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 14, 2004 Author Share Posted September 14, 2004 The departures that caused the outcries of the fans were many: Andy Selva (95K to Montecchio Maggiore), Simone Batti (120K to Cesena), Massimo Costantini (60K to TPS), Davide Marchini (80K to Nimes), Luca Leone (30K to Montecchio Maggiore), Andrea Tedeschi (80K to Carrarese), Federico Lauria (55K+Fiore), Fabio Algeri (80K to Lumezzane), Vicenzo Maisto (20K to Siderno), Stefano Costantini (7K to Ladispoli), Marcello Lucio Di Lorenzo (130K to Pavia), Simone Maddoci (28K to Pavia), Giuseppe De Feudis (4K+Parla to Pro Vercelli) and Andrea Ramponi (14K to Verbania). Those sales totalled 800K and gave me room enough to pursue purchasing a few players to help- as well as providing us with a firmer financial base to support the club. Doing that helped boost the Chairman's confidence in me enough that he would not be so quick to pull the trigger if we stumbled right away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 15, 2004 Author Share Posted September 15, 2004 Our draw in the Serie C Cup Group play was unfortunate. There were three Serie C1 sides and a strong Serie C2 side grouped with us and I have to admit I was just hoping for an adequate showing on our part- I counted our chances of advancing as slim due to the fact we were still trying to integrate new players, new staff and a new system. We opened with Serie C1 Lodigiani and I was pleased with our defensive effort- though we could not get much going offensively and we battled them to a scoreless draw. We played extremely well against Mestre as we visited them. We deserved a better fate- but we lost to them 4-3 because Sauro Fabbri had a terrible match in net. It was much less than I expected of the veteran keeper and it left me with some additional worries about how steady he would be. Our fans were really pleased with our strong showing as we came from behind to beat heavily favored Treviso 2-1 at Olimpico. It was a tough battle and a good first win for us. Fabbri and our backline let us down with our last Group match at Padova. We fell behind 2-0 in the first half, but had rallied to even the match at 2-2 when Fabbri went into a coma and let an easy goal slip past him to send us crashing out of the Serie C Cup on the 3-2 loss. I would have liked a better showing in the Cup play, but was much more concerned about readying the club for our Serie C2/B play. We did add a 3rd keeper- Crescenzo De Vito. We signed the 22 yr old on free and made several other clubs seeking his services unhappy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 16, 2004 Author Share Posted September 16, 2004 September saw us move into Divisional play as we traveled to Mestre and the result was the same as when we went there in Cup play- we lost a close match. This time it was a 2-1 loss as Alberto Pomini played extremely well, but didn't have much support from our backline. Worse than that was the loss for a month of Raffaele Merzek. Fortunately we had just signed 28 yr old DMC Francesco Musumeci on free before the match and he would fill in for Merzek's loss. Ciro Ferrara also joined us as a free signing to bolster our central defense. Ferrara was a 34 yr old DC with extensive experience that I was hoping would help stabilize our backline. Another young DMC, 17 yr old Pasquale Ambrosio, also signed on free with us then. Two more young defenders also joined us- both of whom I had high hopes for- David Baglioni and Federico Bracci. Both were 22 yr olds that I thought could really help resolve what I saw as a lackluster group of central defenders. The addition of Ferrara seemed to help and we played well on both ends of the pitch as we won our home opener 4-1 over Sassuolo. Antonio Donati continued to demonstrate that he was a good signing with a first half hat-trick. We also got Enrico Pento's 1st goal at San Marino in the win. I must admit, I was very relieved to both gain the win and to see the club finally starting to understand the attacking system I thought would carry us. With our new backline additions, I made the decision to transfer list Rocco Crippa. He wasn't happy about losing his starting place and the last thing I needed was an unhappy veteran player agitating against me. Prato purchased him for 22K. Gianmarco Agostinelli roared back into the lineup after a short stint with injuries. He scored a pair of goals in his first match back to help lead us past Gualdo at Olimpico by a 4-0 score. Enrico Pento and Antonio Donati had the other goals in the impressive win. Following the win, I had to consider awhile before deciding that Watford's 190K offer for Michele Salafrica was too good for us to pass up. He wanted a new contract and I would not discuss it unless he reconsidered his demand for a minimum fee release- so the offer from Watford was timely. There was a lot more public excitement about the club for the next Sunday. We completed the surprise signing of veteran striker Marco Negri the day before the match- and there were plenty of fans happy with just that. On Sunday we clipped home side Faenza by a 4-1 score. We were helped when their keeper, Alessio Brandi, was redcarded at 35 minutes for tripping Gianmarco Agostinelli in the area. The score when that happened was 1-1 as Enrico Pento had scored for us, but they had equalized. Simone Viroli converted the penalty kick and Agostinelli continued his scoring binge with 2 more goals (including his 5th of the season) as we rolled past them. Negri was dressed for the match, but I wanted him to have more practice time before making his debut with us. We landed two more players just before our next match. Marco De Santis was a 21 yr old MRLC who was playing on Viterbese's reserve side. He cost 7K to purchase to give us more cover in the midfield in the wake of the Salafrica sale. We also added DRL Mariano De Francesco from Lodigiani for 18K. The end of the month really excited the fans as we featured Negri for the first time as we hosted Sampbenedettese. Negri showed little rust as he scorched a shot to score in his debut to give us the lead. Gianmarco Agostinelli matched him with a goal to send us ahead 2-0. Viroli missed a penalty kick wide that would have made it 3-0, but we clinched the match late in the 2nd half when their keeper- Stefano Visi- earned a redcard for pulling Negri down in the area. Negri converted the penalty for his 2nd goal of the match and the final goal in our 3-0 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterR Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 Maybe it's just me, but since San Marino is a club from the country of San Marino, shouldn't you buy San Marinese players to follow the challenge? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 17, 2004 Author Share Posted September 17, 2004 Italian League next stop will be an Italian side Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 17, 2004 Author Share Posted September 17, 2004 By rights we should have lost to Mantova in our next match. They outshot us 17-7 for the match and the only reason we weren't behind by more than the 2-1 halftime margin was that Sauro Fabbri was playing superbly in his first divisional start of the season. We rallied in the second half behind Gianmarco Agostinell's 2nd goal of the match and Antonio Donati's goal to stage a comeback 3-2 win over the home side. The Chairman was very pleased with the effort and the result. A day after the match, we were short another player. Lodigiani, struggling in C1B, bid the minimum fee release for Stefano Serafini and the midfielder was more than happy to jump to the bigger club (for bigger wages obviously). The 500K we received was welcome, but losing Serafini this early in the season was not something I had planned on. It was a stirring moment when Marco Negri scored the match winning goal in the waning moments against Brescello. They had been giving us fits the entire match at Olimpico. They took the lead, but we quickly evened the match when Enrico Pento scored before leaving with an ankle injury. The match finally appeared to be ours when Antonio Donati scored at 80 minutes to give us the lead. Brescello roared right back with the equalizer at 84 minutes and it looked like a certain 2-2 draw. Donati's wonderful pass allowed Negri an easy tap in to the net and it was a very celebratory crowd that cheered us off the pitch. We were raided again in the week after that excellent win. Padova came calling for Simone Viroli and in the end it was my choice to let him go for 475K and promising young 18 yr old FRC Eros Schiavon. With the loss of Viroli, I signed veteran 33 yr old DMRC Giovanni Piacentini on free transfer. Signing him allowed me to shuffle Raffaele Mezerk from holder midfielder if needed and gave us another veteran presence on our young squad. Marco Negri was hurt for our trip to Rimini, so Schiavon jumped directly into the starting lineup for us. We threw everything and the kitchen sink at Rimini keeper Maurizio Battastini- but despite outshooting them 26-6, we fell 3-1 when Alberto Pomini didn't play that well in our nets. Schiavon was MOM as he proved elusive up front and scored in his debut- but it wasn't enough for us. What I was worried about seems to be showing up- Sauro Fabbri completely misplayed a 45 yard strike and turned what looked like a win for us into a 3-3 draw with Thiene in the last moments of the match. We played well in the match- getting goals from Marco Negri, Antonio Donati (10th of the season) and Tiziano Quarta (1st goal for us). We kept letting them equalize though as Fabbri had an awful match. The 3-3 draw was tough to take, but we have to find a way to start grinding the other clubs when we have a lead- something we didn't do today. We also added one more transfer before the early deadline- adding 24 yr old AMRLC Antonio Morello to our midfield. He cost us 80K to purchase from Ascoli. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 19, 2004 Author Share Posted September 19, 2004 What a difference a week makes. After the discouraging draw against Thiene, we came out ready to play and demolished Teramo 6-0 in front of their stunned Comunale crowd. Everything went right today and there were plenty of contributors on offense. Our goals came from Marco Negri, Matteo Olivieri (his 1st for us), Raffaele Merzek (his 1st for us), Eros Schiavon and two from newly acquired Antonio Morello. Schiavon looks to be an absolutely sensational forward and I have no idea why he was rated at 9K and not used by Padova- but he is an exciting player for us. Morello played very well in his debut for us- after subbing on he took control of the match in the midfield. It looks like we might not miss Viroli as much as we feared- Mario Lusardi healed up and played well on the leftside today. We started out terribly against Imolese as we hosted them at Olimpico. They scored on an early header and an ensuing penalty kick meant we were down 2-0, 17 minutes into the match. Marco Negri provided not only scoring- but leadership- and this match was a great example of that. Within two minutes of the penalty kick we had one goal back when Negri headed a cross from Antonio Donati past Emiliano Betti. Just before halftime, Kevin Centorame zinged a hard cross that Negri volleyed past Betti to bring us back even. With the momentum and confidence from the first half carrying over, we took the play to the visitors after that. Eros Schiavon, after coming close twice, finally stretched the twine with a hard, low shot after a good pass from Donati. We clinched the match when Giovanni Piacentini knocked in a rebound after Betti made a good stop on Negri from close in during the late stages of the match. The win was a confidence booster, but I remained worried about the quality of our keepers. Trento was really struggling when we visited them. They were in 18th place and had just fired their manager. We should have expected they would play with fierce pride, but we weren't ready for that and they jumped to an early lead with a lot of pressure and a rebound that Sauro Fabbri just couldn't hold. Down 1-0 we fought back as Mario Lusardi scored his first goal for us with a booming 30 yard free kick. Both sides were trading attacks up and down the pitch, but it was Antonio Donati rising to the occasion as he chipped in a rebound after being stopped on his first try for the match winning goal. We had to survive their late rally and I was on tenterhooks with Fabbri's play- but we held on for the 2-1 win. Our last match for November 2001 was hosting Alto Adige. They were down in the standings, but it seemed the club had learned a little lesson against Trento and this time we aimed to keep them down by smothering their midfield. It worked very well as we limited them to three shots for the entire match. A goal in the first half from Donati and in the second half from Morello was enough to provide the margin on our 2-0 win. Negri lost a goal on an offside call or the match would have been clinched much sooner than it was. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 20, 2004 Author Share Posted September 20, 2004 Our trip to Poggese was disappointing. We yielded an early goal and could never make it up as their keeper Gabriele Marini earned MOM honours. It was a good effort on our part, but not enough to avoid a close 1-0 loss. A long hard match of storming Fiorenzuola's end finally paid off when Ciro Ferrara deflected a corner from Emmanuele Fiore past Davide Bertaccini for the match winning goal in second half extra time. A redcard to Fiorenzuola midfieler Diego Calderoni had left us camped in their end the entire match, but we had nothing to show for it as Bertaccini was in the right place to make the big save every time. It looked like a frustrating scoreless draw until Ferrara scored his 1st goal at San Marino on the corner. In contrast our trip to Gubbio was much better as Enrico Pento scored a pair of goals in the first ten minutes of play to send us off on a flyer. Matteo Olivieri added a goal and Marco Negri earned his MOM honours with a sensational 40 yard free kick that just caught the underside of the crossbar to finish off the 4-0 road win. The win sent us to the midwinter break even with Poggese atop C2B- both of us with 12-1-3 records. 3rd place Mestre trailed us by 7 points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 21, 2004 Author Share Posted September 21, 2004 We opened January 2002 by surprising people. All that money saved up from our purchases came in handy as we were able to bid 190K and transfer purchase 21 yr old MC Riccardo Tadei from Fiorentina. My scouts all agreed he was an excellent prospect who could step right into our lineup- and he likely will. We also sold defenders Paulo Assetta to Japanese side Koge for 22K and Luigi D'Apice to Mantova for 30K. Our first match back in Serie C2B play wound up a hard fought 2-0 win over visiting Montichiari. With Marco Negri resting, Eros Schiavon contributed both goals to the win as we played a solid defensive match in support of Creszenzo De Vito in gaining him a clean sheet. Mestre was ready to reel us back closer to them when they came to visit Olimpico next. They found it wasn't an easy task as we struck for three first half goals from Negri, Gianmarco Agostinelli and Antonio Donati. They hit back for one early in the second half, but that was quickly answered by Donati's 2nd of the match. Agostinelli added his 2nd of the match to put us up 5-1, but we quit playing defense at that point and Mestre scored two goals in the space of 3 minutes to claw their way back into the match. Fortunately, we woke up when they scored their last goal and played better defense to help close out an important 5-3 win. It was back on the road after that- first up was a trip to Sassuolo. We took full advantage of their lack of pace to force the pressure on them in their end. Donati (15th of the season) and Agostinelli hit for goals in the first half as we moved ahead. In the second half we put the match out of reach when Donati scored his 2nd of the match and Marco De Santis scored his 1st goal at San Marino as we cruised to a 4-0 win. Enrico Pento capped a successful January when he scored in each half on our trip to Gualdo and that was the margin of victory in our 2-0 win. We surged away from Poggese in the month as they struggled and we now hold the top spot in C2B by 7 points over them and we lead 3rd place Thiene by 12 points with 20 matches played of 34 total. One change that is paying dividends this month is our move of David Baglioni and Federico Bracci into the starting lineup on central defense. Both of these youngsters have great futures according to my scouts and coaches- and though Ciro Ferrara and Emmanuele Fiore were playing well- these two youngsters are the future of the club on the backline. The month also saw the end of the transfer window. Tiziano Quarta moved on to Arezzo for 35K, because he was losing playing time with the additions and was the midfielder I thought would draw the most interest. I turned around and splashed out that 35K to purchase promising 18 yr old DMR Matteo Longhi from Albinoleffe. Longhi looks like he will fit in well- though his lack of stamina may be a limitation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 22, 2004 Author Share Posted September 22, 2004 After the short break, we faced Faenza in divisional play. Marco Negri put his name in the San Marino recordbooks as he scored 4 goals in the match, including 3 in the second half in leading us to a 5-1 thumping of our visitors. Riccardo Tadei also chipped in with his 1st goal at San Marino and Matteo Longhi had a solid debut in the midfield. Sampbenedetesse waged a tough battle with us in the first half of the match. Both sides had a goal waved off on offside calls and it certainly looked like it would be scoreless. Enrico Pento changed that and gave us momentum into the second half when he deflected a cross from Antonio Donati past Stefano Visi to give us the lead. The complexion of the match changed in our favor in the second half when defender Stefano Colantuono was redcarded for tripping Marco Negri as the last man. With only a 10 man side, the home side could no longer contain our passing attack and Negri, Donati and Raffaele Merzek all added goals as we finished out a 4-0 win. The 1-2 tandem of Negri and Gianmarco Agostinelli led us to another important win. With Agostinelli scoring in the first half, Negri in the second half and solid keeping from Alberto Pomini- we were able to hand visiting Mantova a stinging 2-0 loss. The loss dropped them from 5th place to 8th place in the bunched up standings for the last spot in the playoff round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 A difficult trip to another playoff contender was first for us in March 2002. Our own misfiring caused us lots of problems, but Antonio Donati scorched a low shot past Andrea Sardini for the lone goal of the match during the first half. Marco Negri was clearly very frustrated as he missed two wide open nets that would have clinched the win during the second half, but we held on for the close 1-0 win. We outplayed Rimini in our next match at Olimpico, but they wanted points from the match just as badly as we did and they rallied for a late second half goal to bring us even in a 1-1 draw. Antonio Donati had scored our goal in the first half, but we had spent some time misfiring again on our shooting and we paid for that when we couldn't get the second goal we needed. The draw left Rimini clinging to the 5th place slot by a point over two other clubs. We were still cruising atop the division- 14 points ahead of Mestre and Poggese. Our 3-2 win at Thiene was enough to guarantee us a spot in the playoffs, but the club already was aiming at clinching the automatic advancement of the top spot as soon as possible. Negri, Donati and Marco De Santis contributed goals in the hard fought win at Del Fiori. We drew another step closer to clinching when Negri scored both goals as we won out over a stubborn midtable Teramo squad. It was a strong day for the backline who ably supported Crescenzo De Vito's clean sheet. It was the unlikely hero again stepping forth for the club as we edged Imolese 3-2 at Romeo Galli. Negri notched the first goal, but the home side had roared back to score twice to take the lead. Into the breach stepped Matteo Olivieri as he bedeviled the Imolese backline and keeper in scoring twice to rally us for the win. The celebration following the win was quite nice as we had clinched the Serie C2B title with the win. It was a great way to close out the month. The Chairman privately told me that I had succeded beyond his expectations. I have to admit I had done much better than I would have thought in stepping into football management- but after all people are people and it was very similar to the olive grove- just needed to define a plan, put the right people in the right places and execute the plan with a passion. The fans no longer had any problems with the fan favorites that I shed in the beginning- after realizing that the players we gained were certainly worthy of the money being paid them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 26, 2004 Author Share Posted September 26, 2004 Trento was in dire straits and desperate as they visited us at Olimpico. They were fighting dropping into the playoffs to be relegated and needed a point from the match. We didn't give it to them. Raffaele Merzek scored on a long free kick and Matteo Olivieri made a superb run through their defense as we took a 2-0 lead to half. They scored a goal midway through the second half to gain a measure of hope, but we closed out the 2-1 win with a strong defensive effort- even after Marco De Sanctis was redcarded for pushing Luca Forezi. Comunale was our next venue as we tangled with Alto Adige. They scored in the opening moments of the match as Sauro Fabbri misjudged a cross and allowed them an easy tap in. The lead didn't last as Antonio Donati and Marco Negri both scored to send us to a 2-1 halftime lead. The second half was all ours as Gianmarco Agostinelli scored early to make the lead 3-1. Pietro Di Giorgio scored in his 1st senior match this season before Negri added his 2nd goal of the match to finish out a strong 5-1 road victory. Despite the fact that we were hosting Poggese at home next with thoughts of revenge on our loss to them, I still went with a patchwork lineup for the match- because I was looking at players to try and judge whether they would stay or go in the offseason. It may have been the players in the lineup were hungrier, but we outplayed them and defeated them 2-0. Their atrocious shooting certainly assisted us, but we were off to a good start when Stefano Scaricamazza scored his 1st goal for us and we led at half 1-0. We clinched the match late in the second half when Alessandro Sanna scored his 1st goal for us to finish off the 2-0 win. One bad note was that Negri injured his calf and would be out until the start of next season. He finished with 22 goals in 23 matches for us and had led us to the promised land of promotion before going down- he had earned both his pay and a time of rest. We were back on the road, this time to Fiorenzuola. Alessandro Sanna staked us to an early lead, but we gave that back when Emmanuele Fiori tripped Massimo Baldini from behind in the area- earning both a redcard and a penalty kick. Diego Calderoni converted the penalty and we were back to 1-1. We were doing a solid job of defending in the second half, with the occasional attack tossed in. On a corner midway through the half we retook the lead when Riccardo Tadei deflected the corner from Sanna past Mauro Bacchin. The home fans howled when the late equalizer scored by Vicenzo Saccani was ruled off on an offsides. We staved off their rally to hold on for the 2-1 win. Our match against Gubbio was exciting in many ways. It was our final home match of the season and we had a big crowd to join us in the planned celebration. It was exciting for me as our lineup would be featuring Paolo Rossi and Moreno Bertoldi- two youths that had played very well on the reserve side and were making their senior debuts. Rossi and Bertoldi were the catalysts of our win, something I wouldn't have expected. Showing no jitters at all, both of them scored in their debut. We also received goals from Alessandro Sanna and Marco De Santis in our easy 4-0 win. The party after the match was quite amazing- a worthy celebration. *** We closed our season with a trip to Romeo Menti to face Montichiari. Again featuring a patchwork lineup, we spotted them an early goal before roaring back. Mariano De Francesco scored his 1st goal for us to bring us even at halftime. Our superior conditioning and morale took hold in the second half and Alessandro Sanna put us ahead to stay with a pair of goals (including his 5th of the season). Marco De Santis added another late goal to finish off the 4-1 win. The win meant we ended the season with a string of 19 unbeaten matches- something that may be difficult to build on next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 27, 2004 Author Share Posted September 27, 2004 It was a quiet summer for us. With little money to pursue transfers, I had to settle for a couple modest purchases. We purchased 21 yr old MC Francesco Pulidori from Rondinella for 8K. Pulidori is good with his feet and should help with our depth in attacking midfielders. Also joining us was Fabio Bonadei from Pisa for 45K. Bonadei is a 27 yr old D/MR that may move into our rightback spot. Matteo Salami wasn't very steady in that role last season and I liked the look of Bonadei to complete our backline. Leaving us during the summer were several players. Federico Carelli signed on Bosman with Sassuolo and I let Pasquale Ambrosio move to Thiene on free. I also sold Kevin Centorame to Ravenna for 30K and moved Daniele De Battisti to the Bristol Rovers for 50K. I do have a few unhappy players on my hands. Angelo Donati didn't like my turning down the offer from Bologna, so is still miffed about not being able to move. I managed to dodge a bullet when Cagliari didn't quite bid Alberto Pomini's minimum fee release. I was surprised that Marco Negri didn't draw much interest- but I hope it stays that way this season as we try to stay up in Serie C1A. We opened up Serie C Cup action with a trip to Cesena. Despite fitness problems we managed to edge the home side 1-0 on Antonio Donati's first half goal. The win was a good start for the upcoming season. Another unhappy player was sent onwards during the week. I accepted a 50K bid on rightback Thomas Bendoni from Vigor Lamezia. Bendoni had never really gotten a chance and wanted to find someplace where he could actually play. Our first home match was hosting Foligno in Serie C Cup play. Our scouts underrated them, but they were tough. Led by their keeper Gianluca Riommi, they battled us to a scoreless draw, which left both of us even atop our Group after two matches. Mestre took advantage of a subpar performance by Cresenzo De Vito to dump us 3-2 and move atop the Group. Negri scored an early goal, but they came back with three unanswered goals before Francesco Pulidori gave us a chance with his 1st goal for us late in the second half. We are still not fully fit and are paying the price in the second half of these Serie C Cup matches. Just like that and we were done in Serie C Cup competition again this season. We were battling Rimini at Olimpico, but our execution was off and our shooting was terrible. When we did manage a shot on net- it would hit the post. We needed a win to have a hope of advancing and went all out trying to get it in the late stages of the match. Instead Rimini hit us with a counter attack and scored the only goal of the match in second half injury time to send us crashing out on the 1-0 loss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 Our first Serie C1A match was a trip to Lucchese. We served notice that San Marino's finish last season was not a fluke with our fine effort there. It had been a tough battle in the first half, but we held a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Marco Negri and Antonio Donati. When they evened the match at 2-2 in the early going of the second half, I am sure many of their fans expected them to roll past us. Instead, we focused better- started making our passes- and suddenly we exploded for 4 goals to rout them 6-2. Gianmarco Agostinelli scored the goal to put us ahead and then added another to make it 4-2. Donati scored his 2nd goal of the match as well and Riccardo Tadei finished off the scoring with a curling 30 yard free kick to make the final margin 6-2. We didn't fair as well in our home opener against Triestina. Negri evened the match after we gave them an easy goal in the opening moments of the first half. That was all we could get though and they managed to get a header past Pomini in the second half to earn them a 2-1 win. Our fans at Olimpico saw a much better performance in our next match as we bested Monza 3-0. Negri and Donato contributed first half goals to give us the lead at half. Pomini was playing superbly in net and was well supported by our backline this time. Antonio Morello scored the lone goal in the second half to clinch our 3-0 win. The tide of our match with Carrarese turned sour quickly and it left us disappointed when we lost to them 2-1 in a match that we had outplayed them in for large stretches. We had taken the early lead on an Agostinelli header and were playing well in the second half. Things went bad when Luca Della Vella was called for holding in the area and Andrea Pierotti converted the penalty kick to even the match at 1-1. It quickly turned grim when Pierotti scored his 2nd less than four minutes later to give the home side a 2-1 lead. We tried to pressure them, but their keeper Milaw Zahalka earned MOM honours as he staved off our rally and we were left going home with a 2-1 loss on the books. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted September 30, 2004 Author Share Posted September 30, 2004 Olimpico was a welcome place to be as we got back on the winning track. We played a very strong defensive match in support of Alberto Pomini and the 2-0 final reflected the hard work and determination. Gianmarco Agostinelli scored in the first half for us and Ciro Ferrara added a goal in the second half to propel us to the win. The fans at La Spezia saw an entertaining match. By the time the dust had cleared on the first half- six goals had been scored, three for each side. We settled down and played a stronger defensive match in the second half and that was what allowed us to win 5-3. Agostinelli continued to be searing hot- as he scored a hat-trick which included both our second half goals. Antonio Donati also chipped in with a pair of first half goals. The first time around against Cesena was close thanks to their keeper Luca Pastine. He had no magic this time around and the Olimpico fans enjoyed watching the destruction of the visitors to a tune of 7-1. Agostinelli had two goals, Negri had four and Matteo Olivieri hit for his 1st this season as everything went right offensively for us in this easy win. Modena took full advantage of both absences of Alberto Pomini and Marco Negri in the second half as they stormed to a 3-0 win with all the goals coming after a scoreless first half. Pomini was redcarded for a deliberate handball at the end of the first half- when it appeared he was still inside the area. Negri had gone out due to injury (will miss three weeks with a twisted knee) and down a man, we couldn't get anything going against the home side after they scored in the opening moments of the second half to put the pressure on us. We didn't respond well in the match and they had an easy time posting the win against us. Negri was hurt by some of the media questioning his injury (it was a legitimate injury, despite what the press hinted) and he asked to be placed on the transfer list. I agreed to place him on the list at his minimum fee release and expected to lose him at the January transfer period. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 2, 2004 Author Share Posted October 2, 2004 Back at Olimpico, we found a way to overcome the various distractions and put together a strong performance in a 3-0 win. Led by Antonio Donati goal to put us in the early lead, we pressured their midfield and kept them from generating any offense. Gianmarco Agostinelli scored his 10th goal of the season and Marco De Santis chipped in with the clinching goal to make it 3-0 late in the match. I had to admit I was enjoying our season, but at the same time I was having my doubts about whether I should tie myself to San Marino for the long term. The Chairman was privately badmouthing me about my handling of Marco Negri's outburst and that made life difficult. The club was becoming split because Negri was a popular captain among the players. His frustration was breaking down the smooth running clubhouse that we had maintained all last season. Chairman Rossini was trying to pressure me into a signing a longer term contract (I had signed another one-year deal before the season), but because of the hoopla- I had told him I wanted to wait until later in the season to make up my mind. Back on the road we went to Pesara. Vis Pesara's keeper Alex Castorani had a splendid match. It wasn't quite good enough though as Alessandro Sanna solved him in first half injury time to stake us to the lead. Agostinelli then clinched the match when he converted a penalty kick after being bowled over in the area as we won the road match 2-0. Another strong defensive effort helped as we limited them to only 3 shots in the match. Varese gave us quite a tussle in the first half. Their keeper Paolo Mancini was very sharp and though we had plenty of good chances- our halftime lead was only 1-0 thanks to a goal from Sanna. The house of cards collapsed for them in the second half as an Diego Tacconi own goal in the opening moments triggered a loss of will and we scored four more goals in the half to cruise home with a 6-0 win. Sanna added his 2nd goal of the match before Francesco Pulidori sliced and diced their defense for his first 2 goals at San Marino. Agostinelli then drove a header home to cap the big win. Our trip to Arezzo saw a meltdown in our defense, compounded by a poor match from Alberto Pomini as we lost a wild 5-3 shoot out. We actually had the halftime lead- 2-1- on goals from Matteo Olivieri and Agostinelli. Arrezzo came out and roughed us up badly in the second half as they took advantage of our failure to clear the ball and of Pomini having an off match. Marco Negri made his return from injury and his 80th minute goal got us back to 4-3, but they scored a final goal soon after to clinch the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 We were already ahead 2-0 when Como keeper Alex Brunner earned a redcard for clipping Marco Negri's feet. Negri converted the penalty kick for his 2nd goal of the match and we were well on our way to a 5-1 win. Negrci completed his hat-trick in the match and we also received goals from Riccardo Tadei and Gianmarco Agostinelli. Chairman Rossini told me flatly that he disagreed with me chiming on the praise for Marco Negri. He thought it would make him over confident. He wasn't willing to listen as I tried to explain even though Marco is on the transfer list at his request- he is still the club leader, the club captain- and I wasn't about to undermine him in those roles. My doubts about staying on are growing. Another gritty defensive effort was the difference as we scored on 3 of the 5 shots we managed at Reggiana. Negri, Antonio Morello and Francesco Pulidori were the goal scorers for us as we helped Pomini to earn a clean sheet bonus in the 3-0 win. Our match against Pisa was a difficult one. We weren't as sharp defensively, but after they took the early lead we fought back with three straight goals from Morello, Negri and Giovanni Piacentini. They clawed one back to start the second half and it was a tooth-n-nail battle, but we held on for the tough 3-2 win. Padova ended our winning ways as they tromped on us for a 3-1 win. It was slightly upsetting to see Simone Viroli turn in a class performance against us as he keyed them to the win with a goal and two assists. Our only goal was from Antonio Donati- but both Donati and Negri missed numerous chances to score and get us back into the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 After a short break we started 2003 hosting Cremonese. Our execution was good, despite being off for awhile, but we were having problems with how well Gianluca Marchesini was playing in net for them. Giovanni Piacentini was the difference in the match. The 33 yr old veteran proved to be in the right place, right time as he deflected a Fabio Bonadei corner past Marchesini for the lone goal in our 1-0 win. We played just as well when hosting Lucchese, but similarly ran into another keeper who was very hot. Massimo Gazzoli was making their early first half goal stand up nicely until Marco De Santis- who had just subbed on for Francesco Pulidori- drove a rebound past him to salvage a 1-1 draw for us. In our visit to Triestina, we finally remembered how to score- but we forgot how to play good defense. It resulted in a wild 4-4 draw, with both sides scoring 2 goals in each half. The fans were entertained, but it wasn't my idea of how to play good football to win on the road. Antonio Donati scored 2 goals for us, Antonio Morello chipped in one and Enrico Pento scored after subbing on for a tiring Gianmarco Agostinelli. The backline, without injured leader Ciro Ferrara, played poorly in the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 7, 2004 Author Share Posted October 7, 2004 I was surprised when the transfer deadline passed and no clubs had come in on Marco Negri. I think he was surprised too, but maybe a little relieved. He sure played well in his next match out. We faced off with Monza for the top spot in Serie C1A at Monza to begin February 2003. It was great to see us hit on all cylinders after the sputtering January we had. Neither Monza nor their fans enjoyed it much as we scored 4 first half goals enroute to a crushing 5-1 road win over them. Negri had a hat-trick in the match and we received single markers from Gianmarco Agostinelli and Antonio Donati. The win moved us three points ahead of them atop the table. Negri continued on a roll when he gave us the lead at Olimpico against Carrarese. It was a tough, physical first half that saw both sides with good chances. We were fortunate to be leading 1-0 thanks to Alberto Pomini's work in the net. We exploded for two goals in the opening moments of the second half- as Francesco Pulidori and Riccardo Tadei scored in a 2 minute span. With the 3-0 lead, we worked hard on shutting down the visitors and helped Pomini keep the sheet clean. Our roll continued when we visited Lecco. They took the early lead on a penalty, but Antonio Donati sent us to halftime even with them at 1-1. The complexion of the match changed when their defender Nicola Colabro was redcarded in the opening moments of the second half for kicking Marco Negri. We took full advantage of their resulting confusion and Agostinelli, Ciro Ferrara (just back from injury) and Negri all scored as we sent their fans home unhappy with our 4-1 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 8, 2004 Author Share Posted October 8, 2004 We opened March 2003 on a good note as we hosted Spezia at Olimpico. Two first half goals from Marco Negri were enough to power us to a 2-1 win that featured great work in net by Crescenzo De Vito. We staved off their last minute rally to earn the close win. It was a gritty performance that carried us to a 2-1 win over Cesena. Luca Pastine did all that was humanly possible in net to get a positive result for Cesena- and came very close to pulling it off. Gianmarco Agostinelli was feeling very unlucky, as he managed six good shots- all stopped by Pastine. Pastine didn't stop Antonio Donati in the first half and Negri in the second half- and those two goals were enough to allow us to edge the home side. When we lost Raffaele Merzek to injury in the match- it meant that all 4 of our midfielders that play the holder role were injured at the same time. Riccardo Tadei filled in admirably in the match to help us to the win. The good string of play continued as we hosted struggling Modena at Olimpico. Francesco Pulidori keyed our 4-0 win over them by scoring two goals in the first half. Antonio Morello chipped in with a goal and Negri added another goal as we easily saw off our visitors in the convincing win. Chairman Rossini and I had another 'discussion' this morning. He accused me of trying to boost Gianmarco Agostinelli so that he would be snapped up by one of the big clubs. He basically accused me of working with Agostinelli and his agent to orchestrate the increase in press coverage that he had received. Rossini warned me that he would not be reworking Agostinelli's contract because of this pressure. I was slightly aghast at the accusations- all I had done was offer my comment that, "I thought Gianmarco would be able to succeed at any level of play in Italy." The Chairman's overreaction to this seems another indication that I am close to overstaying my welcome here. I don't know if he feels embarassed that the manager he more or less picked out of the hat is having success where all the 'selected' managers hadn't in the past or if there is something outside my understanding going on- but whatever it is- is causing friction between us and leaving me wondering if I should stay. Alberto Pomini was the big story in our 1-0 win over Pavia. He shone as he made several spectacular saves to backstop the close win. The lone goal came early in the first half when Antonio Morello blasted home a rebound. There was more dissension with the board following the match and my compliments in the press about Negri's leadership (despite wanting to leave). We struggled badly in our first half against last place Vis Pesaro at Olimpico. So badly that there was a hint of booing as we left the pitch, down 1-0. We hadn't really even generated any chances- something that wasn't acceptable against so poor a side. We started the second half with more fire, but it took the substitution of Matteo Olivieri to invigorate the offense. Agostinelli got us back to even when his header on an Olivieri cross looped over Roberto De Julius. Negri then came up with another match winning goal as his booming 25 yard free kick curled past De Julius to put us ahead 2-1 midway through the second half. Vis Pesaro had little left to rally and we finished the close win out fairly quietly. March ended with a trip to visit Varese and we played a tough match. The early lead was ours with goals from Negri and Donato, but Varese never quit attacking and Pomini had to be especially good to keep them off the board at halftime. They finally found a way to score on Pomini and we were right back in the soup- only leading 2-1. Good players step up in difficult times and Agostinelli made a terrific header to finally clinch the win for us. The 3-1 win clinched us a spot in the playoffs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 9, 2004 Author Share Posted October 9, 2004 April 2003 opened with an embarrassing loss at Olimpico to Arezzo as they handily defeated us 4-2. Alfredo Aglietti scored a hat-trick as he had Pomini's number the entire match. Our goals came from Negri and Matteo Longhi, but it was too little, much too late to help us in this one. 3rd place Como wanted this match badly, but we wanted it just as bad as they did. In the end, Pomini was better in net and Agostinelli solved their keeper Alessandro Quarta for the lone goal in the match. The 1-0 win leaves us just shy of clinching the Serie C1A title. The celebration for clinching the Serie C 1A Championship after our 3-0 win over Reggiana was stupendous- magnificent- wonderful, words don't do it justice. Negri and Francesco Pulidori had scored to give us a commanding lead. We were playing well and I wasn't worried about them catching us, but Stefano Scaricamazza clinched it with his 1st goal of the season. We must have celebrated too much, as Pisa easily beat us at Pisa 2-0. We had little offense in the match and it was a disappointing effort. Worse, Negri blew up in a post-match interview. His comments about his teammates were something I could not afford to take lightly. My comments back did little to calm the waters. The net result is that Negri was extremely unhappy with me and Rossini remained very unhappy with me for the entire situation occurring. A definite no-win situation at the time. It was a strong effort as we won our last match of the season at Olimpico. Pulidori scored in the first half and Negri scored in the second half. The public got a taste of the brewing feud with Negri as he pointed right at me after he scored- the goal was also his 50th at San Marino. Pomini was very strong in the net and his clean sheet in the 2-0 win was well deserved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 11, 2004 Author Share Posted October 11, 2004 Cremonese dearly wanted a win in their final match- they needed it to possibly avoid the playout. They gave us an excellent battle, but when it was done we had wound up in a scoreless draw that sent them into the playout group. The summer was going to be unsettled. I knew this because the rumor mill had already begun with the calls of Rossini to have a 'real' manager for the club- now that they were heading for Serie B. What was worse, was that many of the press and public agreed with him on the idea. Even some of the players- in the wake of the Negri situation- felt that way. All of those feelings left me feeling poignant about the Serie C Super Cup against Siena. I couldn't know for sure- but I certainly felt this would be my final match as Manager of the club. I don't know if the players could sense that, but I do think they could sense this would be a last hurrah for the type of atmosphere that we had- things would change a lot moving to Serie B. The performance we put together was one that both I and the players could be proud of-- we stomped on Serie C1B Champion Siena 6-1. Negri had a hat-trick, Francesco Pulidori had two goals and Gianmarco Agostinelli had the other as we routed them and left our fans very happy. I hadn't planned on any serious changes for the summer. We still didn't have more than minimal funds for transfers and I was happy enough with the club as it was. I was mostly trying to keep a low profile in the wake of more rumors being spread by Chairman Rossini about my fitness to manage the club. The break flew by, I wasn't even keeping up on football much until June. As we restarted training camp in late June- things came to a head quickly. Rossini was determined to have me out- and the press was now fully on his side, calling my managerial efforts a 'fluke'- and discussing that I wasn't up to the task of managing San Marino in Serie B. What could I do? I quietly applied for the current open positions at Crotone, Lucchese-Libertas and Alzano- all Serie C1 sides. No, there weren't any higher level openings then- but with the destruction in the press I thought I would be lucky to get one of those jobs. The furor in the press kept rising while I waited to see- and Crotone offered me a job. They had been relegated from Serie B to Serie C1B and seemed a great place to go- a long ways away from San Marino in any case, a nice seaside city in the South seemed the perfect place to go. On to the 2nd phase with Crotone... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 good luck with Crotone really enjoying the story so far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 12, 2004 Author Share Posted October 12, 2004 Thanks Terk- glad to hear you are enjoying it *** I didn't realize how much of a problem Crotone had with cash. There was none- to the tune of 4.5 Million in the red and one of the Board's mandates was to get that under control if at all possible- since the revenues would be less in Serie C1B. That was an eye opener. I did the only thing I thought I could do- offer the best players on the club for transfer. I hated to part with forward Cosimo Sarli- he looked like a very promising young forward- but Milan offered me 3.5 Million (his minimum fee release) for him and that was where he went. We also sent last season's player of the year- forward Luca Amoroso to Lecce for 2.5 Million- which not only wiped out our debt, but with the cash infusion the board gave me of 825K before the transfers went through- gave us a tidy little transfer fund. Now, having that fund came in handy, because I knew how cash starved San Marino was when I left. I still wonder if that is why Rossini felt he needed a 'name' coach- to sell more tickets, or maybe to secure a loan. It is hard to tell what wheels are turning behind Italian football sometimes. New manager Gianfranco Zola wasn't all that enamored with my youth players, so it made perfect sense to raid San Marino for any who might be willing to come to Crotone. There were several, the most surprising of whom was Antonio Donati. Zola must have made him unhappy with the installation of a new attacking system- because he was willing to come to Crotone and San Marino accepted my 210K offer for him (well, they didn't have much choice- since it was his minimum release fee- but I was still gratified that he was willing to come to Crotone). Also coming over to Crotone from San Marino were Luigi Biaggi (18K), Federico Bracci (20K), Francesco Filanti (14K), Enrico Pento (30K), Eros Schiavon (24K) and Gianluca Ricci (12K). Shortly after that I also picked up Francesco Pulidori (20K) and scout Riccardo Cervellati from the San Marino swirl. It was easy to see why the club was bleeding money. They were paying a heavy load of wages- close to low end Serie A weekly amounts- for many players on the club. Certainly I had a bit of money now- but the choice became do we keep those players and see our funds drain away quickly or do we chance that we can improve with less expensive players and try to find them new homes. There wasn't a lot of time to get this done before our couple of friendlies and the Serie C Cup action, so the process would wind up the same as when I started at San Marino. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 The press in Crotone was very kind to me actually. They had barely avoided being relegated from Serie B in 2001-02, but couldn't avoid it last season and the fans and press were happy for any kind of change. Despite all the hoopla caused by my leaving San Marino, they were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt and were just hoping for better things from their club. We purchased Ciro Capuano from Pisa for his 60K non-promotion fee- I was hoping he would work out at leftback (a weakspot). I heard that one of the scouts had given Zola a copy of my shortlist- which didn't surprise me. Nor did it surprise me when he came calling for Filippo Dal Moro. Because of Dal Moro's high wages (5400 week) I was happy to let him go to San Marino for some cash and Francesco Nuti- a young DMC that I had signed while there and was high on. I was more disturbed when I heard Zola was making a run at Gabriele Paoletti- who I dearly wanted to sign on free as our number 1 keeper. Both San Marino and I submitted bids on Paoletti, but my offer of an immediate starting role won him over and he agreed to sign with us. Since Crotone didn't have any holder midfielders that I liked (other than Nuti), I also gave Zola a bid on Francesco Musumeci at San Marino. He had been a backup there- but had played well for me. We agreed on a price and Francesco agreed on a contract, so we added him to our midfield mix. I also managed to persuade San Marino to let me talk to Marco De Santis. We worked out a contract after I paid them a small transfer price. It certainly was looking like a lot of expatriates in Crotone with all the ex-San Marino players aboard. I really liked Salvatore Aronica- one of the better defenders I have seen- but he wanted to move to a bigger club and already had a non-promotion release fee of 230K in effect, so I transfer listed him and was swamped with offers. Genoa won out on the bidding and landed him. He would have been a good player to keep- except that his salary of 4800 a week was bad news on our bottom line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 14, 2004 Author Share Posted October 14, 2004 In the middle of all the transfer discussion (almost half of Crotone roster was transfer listed), we began our Italian Cup Group competition by hosting Pisa. We offered a solid performance, but weren't able to score. Neither was Pisa able to score on Gabriele Paoletti and we wound up with an entertaining scoreless draw. We disposed of more players following the draw. Dominico Giampa was one of Crotone's best midfielders the last two seasons, but was another very pricey player at his 4100 a week wage level. Pistoiese was willing to pay us 120K + appearence fees and he is now a member of their midfield. Also leaving (both on free transfer) were defender Nicola Oppido (to Internapoli) and midfielder Andrea Venezia (to Poggese). Another forward was arriving as we completed the transfer purchase of promising Gaetano Mancino from Castel Di Sangro for 90K. Young defender Lorenzo Magnani was next to go- as Mestre paid 65K to purchase him. His sale put us over 2 Million in the black on our books, but I had to be careful dipping into that since there would be little revenue added to run the club this season. We travelled to Serie A Udinese in our next Italian Cup Group match. We played well, given that we had several injuries keeping key players out, but they managed a late marker to edge us 2-1. Our goal came from Gaetano Mancino, who had a terrific debut. The loss meant we couldn't qualify from our Group- but I hadn't expected too and was working hard on trying to get the club to gel. With six keepers on contract- I was trying to dispose of at least half of them and we finally completed the sale of Antonio Piazza to Carrarese for 35K. Our biggest transfer purchase was what I thought was a steal. We purchased 23 yr old D/DML Thomas Manfredi from Udinese for 500K (he was rated at 975K). Manfredi agreed to come to us and I managed to negotiate a contract without a minimum fee release. Manfredi immediately becomes our highest value player and our starting leftback. Though our last Italian Cup Group Match meant nothing to either side (Udinese had already clinched), I was very encouraged by our performance when visiting Vicenza. We outplayed them in the scoreless draw, but we didn't play our best match either. Our execution- especially finishing- left a lot to be desired, but we smothered their midfield and that leaves me feeling optimistic about our chances during the season. We closed August with a pair of important signings. They are both gambles- to a certain extent- but both worthy of taking. The bigger gamble of purchasing Cristian Adami from Vicenza for 350K is not a gamble on the player- Adami and Manfredi are certainly our best defenders now- but on the contract I had to give him to sign with us. Adami's minimum fee release is only 375K, which means I get little more than I paid for him if a big club comes swooping. I will try to convince him on a newer contract after he has seen that he will be playing all the time. The littler gamble was to spend the 40K to buy out the non-promotion release clause on keeper Riccardo Morelli from Arezzo. My scouts raved over him, so even though I didn't need another keeper- I purchased him. I still have several keepers to find new homes for now. Success! Well, partial success at least. I discussed increasing the minimum fee on Adami's contract and it cost me another 35K signing bonus, but now the min fee release is 725K. That at least gives me some room if big clubs come calling- or at least a decent return on investment if they do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 Congrats Mike! Gooed luck with Crotone. : Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 17, 2004 Author Share Posted October 17, 2004 Thanks Educated- Crotone is a new club for me (never managed them at any time before) so it should be interesting. *** 2003-04 Crotone Snapshots *** Keepers Gabriele Paoletti 25 yr old GK- signed on free transfer after having played in Torino youth system- likely club captain- very solid and balanced in skills Riccardo Morelli 20 yr old GK- purchased for 40K from Arezzo- scouts think very highly of him and I am impressed with the skills he has at such a young age Gianluca Ricci 18 yr old GK- purchased for 12K from San Marino- I liked him when we signed him at San Marino, I still like him- very agile, but lacks some of the other skills at present Massimiliano Bacci 18 yr old GK- already at club when arrived- seems like he might have potential to be an adequate keeper- worth keeping for now *** Backline Thomas Manfredi 23 yr old D/DML- purchased for 500K from Udinese- I still can't believe they could just toss a player of Manfredi's caliber away so cheaply- should be our starting leftback for a long time Cristian Adami 26 yr old DRC- purchased for 350K from Vicenze- Another one I am glad to get cheaply- worse chance of risk/reward than Manfredi, but will be in our starting lineup a lot Angelo Schembri (II) 19 yr old DRC- already at club when arrived- Very good young rightback- he should get a lot of playing time there for us Federico Bracci 24 yr old DC- purchased for 20K from San Marino- I didn't give him the full starting chance he deserved at San Marino, but he will get it now Luigi Biagi 17 yr old SW/DRC- purchased for 18K from San Marino- Best young defender I have seen, but a troublesome lack of pace might be a serious drawback- Good cover for the Adami-Bracci starting combo Giuseppe Del Gaudio 23 yr old DC- signed on free- scouted him heavily when at San Marino, so naturally signed him right away when moved here- solid defender, but mostly cover for the middle Marco Pecorari 25 yr old DRC- already at club when arrived- His high wages make him a transfer candidate, but a solid defender if he stays Ciro Capuano 22 yr old DLC- purchased for 60K from Pisa- Was starting leftback until Manfredi came aboard, still will see time there and maybe even in the middle- promising youngster who may develop into a better player Michele Bacis 23 yr old DRLC- already at club when arrived- High wages make him a pricey backup, but I may keep him anyways- Should be a great gameday sub, since he can fill in adequately at any backline position Francesco Filanti 21 yr old DRC- purchased for 14K from San Marino- Developing young defender that likely won't see a lot of action this season *** Midfield Alessandro Zucchelli 23 yr old MRLC- already at club when arrived- Solid midfielder who looks like he can play every position in the midfield with adequate ability- Should be one starter Francesco Spezzano 23 yr old AM/FR- already at club when arrived- Another midfielder starter- Wizard with the ball, but lacks some defensive skills which make him more of a one-way player Antonio Donati 22 yr old AMC- purchased for 210K from San Marino- San Marino were foolish to let him go, but it might have been due to injury problems last season- Appropriately, he is injured and will miss the first divisional matches of the season- Good with the ball and an excellent clutch player- Very glad to have him here Francesco Musumeci 30 yr old DMC- purchased for 28K from San Marino- Solid veteran presence and had played well at holder midfielder role for me at San Marino- Dependable and also should provide leadership, not flashy at all Marco De Santis 23 yr old MRLC- purchased for 22K from San Marino- Lack of midfield depth means that Marco will likely be playing a lot more than he did at San Marino- solid overall skills, just a steady worker no matter where he plays Giovanni Cioffi 23 yr old MRC- already at club when arrived- Should help fill in at most midfield spots- Solid player, but not especially flashy Francesco Pulidori 22 yr old MC- purchased for 20K from San Marino- Capable fill-in for Donati when hurt...(like right now)- Played well in limited usage for me at San Marino, should do the same here Ubaldo Asteriti 21 yr old ML- already at club when arrived- Developing youngster that may see a spot start on occasion- Has good physical skills for his young age Giuseppe Finocchairo 20 yr old MC- already at club when arrived- Another developing youngster that will provide cover for Donati- Won't see a lot of time this season, but might see a start here and there Francesco Piccioni 19 yr old AML- signed on free transfer- Scouts found him on youth search and he looks like a well rounded player- Won't see senior play unless injuries come into play Daniele Mandelli 17 yr old D/DMR- signed on free transfer- Scout found him on youth search and he shows flashes of potential- Offensive player, which is why working with the midfielders- Don't expect to use him on seniors this season Francesco Nuti 18 yr old DMC- received from San Marino in player exchange- Liked him a lot after signed at San Marino- Will provide cover for Musumeci in midfield holder role Gabriele Recchi 16 yr old DMRC- already at club when arrived- Very promising young midfielder- Coaches all think he will turn into a very good player for us, but that likely won't be this season- May see a little senior time due to injuries or yellow cards *** Forwards Gaetano Mancino 22 yr old FLC- purchased for 90K from Castel di Sangro- Was just starting to earn playing time at Castel di Sangro- Has the qualities I look for in a scoring forward, especially pace and acceleration- Good finisher Eros Schiavon 20 yr old FRC- purchased for 24K from San Marino- I remember raving about him after I brought him to San Marino, but then I didn't give him much playing time last season- Still like his mix of qualities, he hasn't proven himself a real good scorer- yet, but that might be what happens this season with a full chance Enrico Pento 20 yr old SC- purchased for 30K from San Marino- He played well for me the first season at San Marino, but regressed some last season because Negri and Agostinelli soaked up most of the playing time- Still like him and think he will turn into a good scoring forward Mirko Pagliarini 27 yr old SC- already at club when arrived- His very high wage level has him on the transfer list- I like his qualities, but even now he hasn't had one full, good season- Don't expect him to be with the club too long, since there are several clubs interested Edoardo Artistico 34 yr old SC- already at club when arrived- Skills have diminished leaving a player that is only OK, but is earning top level wages- He is on transfer list by request, but would have been transfer listed anyways- Pessimistic about chances to move him and his exorbitant wages somewhere else Giuseppe Sculli 22 yr old SC- already at club when arrived- The sleeper pick for some senior starting time- He lacks a few qualities I look for, but still has enough to interest me- Has shown scoring potential in limited exposure the last two seasons Luigi Ieversi 19 yr old FR- already at club when arrived- Has some nice qualities, but I am unsure about extending his contract past this season- Likely won't see any senior time this season Nunzio Di Dio 19 yr old FR- already at club when arrived- Similar to Ieversi, but under contract through 2005- Don't expect to use him on senior side Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 18, 2004 Author Share Posted October 18, 2004 Our first Serie C1B match was a trip to Foggia. We gave away a goal in the early going when our defensive coverage got caught not communicating and neither stepped up to challenge the scorer. Just before halftime it was Gaetano Mancino scoring in his debut when he picked up a loose ball and fired a rising shot past Michele Tambellini. We took the lead in the second half when Francesco Pulidori scored in his Crotone debut after Francesco Musumeci found him with a pass into space. It took a determined effort to hold off Foggia's rally after Eros Schiavon drew a redcard at 75 minutes for pushing down Eddy Mengo. Gabriele Paoletti was equal to the task and we begin our long season with a 2-1 road win. The next day after the match, Pulidori broke his collarbone- and would miss a month. Antonio Donati was close to returning fortunately. We also purchased a very promising 19 yr old AMR Gabriele Rigato from Como for 65K. Rigato certainly helps our midfield depth and I may be inserting him into the lineup sometine soon. We also completed the sale of 35 yr old GK Massamiliano Caniato to Treviso for 70K. We hosted Giulianova in our first home match in divisional play. With Schiavon's suspension, Enrico Pento was in the lineup and he scored in his Crotone debut. It turned out to be the only goal we would get- but it was enough as we put forth a strong defensive effort in besting Giulianova 1-0. Second half goals from Mancino and Mirko Pagliarini were enough to allow us to survive a late goal by Torres as won another close match 2-1. We aren't scoring much- yet- but we are playing very well over all. I celebrated Antonio Donati's return to the lineup and he celebrated the match by winning MOM honours. After the match it was announced that he had been selected for the Under-21 side. There were plenty of chances for the taking when we visited Arezzo. Unfortunately, all we had to show for them was Eros Schiavon's first goal for Crotone. They scored a late equalizer and we wound up with a disappointing 1-1 draw. I had to laugh when I saw the newspaper reports quoting Marco Negri, "We need better players..." It was even more humerous when I saw Zola's comments agreeing with him- Rossini must have blown a gasket when he saw those. San Marino is off to an 0-2-3 start and in dead last in Serie B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 20, 2004 Author Share Posted October 20, 2004 Our first match in October 2003 was hosting Pescara at Ezio Scida. The first half was wild, as we took the lead with Antonio Donati's 1st goal at Crotone, but traded the lead back and forth. We went to halftime ahead 3-2 because Federic Bracci had headed in two different corners- overpowering defenders both times for his first two goals at Crotone. We put the match on ice in the second half when their keeper- Hugo Daniel Rubini- was redcarded for pulling Donati down in the area. Francesco Musumeci converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal at Crotone and we were happy to finish out a 4-2 win. The first leg of our 2nd round Serie C Cup match hosting Poggese was unusual to say the least. By the 12 minute mark the referee had handed out redcards to both Mirko Pagliarini and Ubaldo Asteriti- leaving us with only 9 men. We did what we could, playing a defensive game and supported Riccardo Morelli very well in his debut. The scoreless draw was about the best we could expect under the circumstances- and I was happy enough with it. I wasn't happy with the referee at all and privately the FA told me that his officiating had been poor and they would keep a close on future matches. Gabriele Paoletti continued to prove he was one of our most valuable players on our trip to Avellino. We traded scoring chances with them the entire match. The reason we won the match 4-1 was that Paoletti played better than their keeper. Our goals came from Francesco Spezzano (his 1st of the season), Eros Schiavon and two from Antonio Donati. The next couple weeks we would be without Thomas Manfredi and Francesco Musumeci- as both suffered minor injuries in the match. In our match against Sora, it was good to see Antonio Donati take over a match- like I had seen him do in the past at San Marino before the injury problems of last season. He was the dominant force in our 3-0, scoring a goal in each half and assisting on the goal scored by Francesco Nuti. We looked very good and everyone seems to be gaining comfort in their roles now- which bodes well for our chances. Before the transfer deadline, we added a several new players. Well, two new players- one old friend. 20 yr old ML Maurizio Costa cost us 45K to purchase from Martellago. I thought he could help us a lot, since we needed a more defensive minded midfielder to help balance all the offensive specialists we seemed to have. Musumeci's injury pointed out that we really needed some veteran cover for our holder role- so we signed Stefano Trinchera, a 29 yr old DMC that Reggiana had released. The old friend is 21 yr old DRL Alessandro Della Vella from San Marino. Della Vella cost 70K, but gives us excellent cover at both fullback positions. I also had been trying to loan another forward- since Geatano Mancino was out with an injury, but wasn't having any luck that way. We didn't play a great match in the 2nd leg of Serie Cup C at Poggese, but it turned out to be good enough as Enrico Pento scored in the second half and that away goal was enough to send us on in the next round of the Cup with the 1-1 draw. Nocerina was our next destination. Della Vella, Costa and Trinchera all played well in their debuts- but it was Donati powering the offense again. He scored in each half and Francesco Spezzano added a goal as we beat the home side 3-0. We may not have been getting much scoring from our forwards- but our midfield had been picking up the slack. The first leg of Serie C Cup 3rd round wasn't a good one for us. We visited fellow C1B side Pescara and found out how much their loaning of Atalanta forward Federico Pettina had made them. Our backline couldn't contain Pettina or Antonio Filippini (on loan from Brescia), but despite going down 2-0 on goals from Pettina and Filippini- we fought back. Enrico Pento scored to get us back into the match and Giuseppe Sculli scored his 1st this season to even things late in the match. It wasn't enough as Pescara capitalized on another good chance brought on by poor defensive coverage and we lost the first leg 3-2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 21, 2004 Author Share Posted October 21, 2004 Fermana came calling to Ezio Scida in early November 2003. For most of the first half it seemed like we just couldn't get going- no real chances and no offense of any kind. Giuseppe Sculli made his case for being a starter as he hit for a late first half marker and then scored again in the opening moments of the second half. After they scored to close it to 2-1, Antonio Donati clinched the match with a late goal to make the final score 3-1. Our 2nd leg of Serie C Cup 3rd round was an exciting one, but when the dust had cleared we were broomed out of the tourney on a 5-4 aggregate. They grabbed the early lead, but we stormed back behind goals from Sculli and Gabriele Rigato (his 1st for us). We couldn't hold them off though and Raffaele Diana put us in dire straits when his rising shot sailed past Riccardo Morelli to put us behind on aggregate. We sent everyone forward and though we had some excellent chances we couldn't beat Hugo Daniel Rubini- who earned his MOM honours in moving them on to the 4th round. Mirko Pagliarini wanted to stay with the club. He made his point before the match with Fidelis Andria and then during the match. They took the early lead and Gabriele Paoletti had to withstand heavy pressure most of the first half. Just before halftime, Donati sent a skipping pass through to Pagliarini and his low shot past Paolo Onaroti evened the match at 1-1. The second half saw both clubs with good chances, but defender Luca Moreo was forced to hold Pagliarini in the area and Mirko converted the penalty kick for his 2nd goal of the match and what would turn into the match winning goal in our close 2-1 win. Poggese turned out to be a very tough match at Ezio Scida as their keeper Gianluca Spinetta performed brilliantly. We outshot them 17-2 for the match, but it was Giuseppe Sculli's goal late in the second half that finally allowed us to escape with a 1-0 win. \ Next was a trip to Castel di Sangro. Francesco Musumeci celebrated his return from injury by keying our 3-1 win. Musumeci scored in the first half and then was seemingly everywhere as we were forced to fend off wave after wave of attacks from the home side. Gabriele Paoletti had another splendid match, but they managed to score on him just before halftime and we went to dressing rooms even at 1-1. Alessandro Della Vella was the biggest contributor in the second half. Della Vella, filling in for injured Thomas Manfredi, made two superb leftside runs. Both resulted in crosses that found Mirko Pagliarini lurking in the area- and both resulted in Pagliarini goals as they were the difference in gaining the road victory. It looked too easy in the early going- and it was. By the 16 minute mark we had a 3-0 lead over visiting Viterbese on the strength of goals from Pagliarini, Donati and Gaetano Mancino. Mancino made his return from a lengthy time off due to injury a good one as he forced the play in the Viterbese zone. With the lead, we got entirely too comfortable and suddenly it was 3-2 after they struck for two quick goals against Riccardo Morelli. We didn't panic and managed to get ourselves sorted out at halftime. For the match we outshot them 25-9 and most of that was in the second half. The lone goal of the second half belonged to Giovanni Cioffi- who scored his 1st of the season. Our defense finally put the clamps on them at that point and we were happy to hear the final whistle in the 4-2 final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 23, 2004 Author Share Posted October 23, 2004 A look at the balance book as we entered December 2003 told the stark truth- just as expected we are leaking money. We have too many high wages for a club at the level we are at. I am not sure if I can really do anything at this point- but just take the heat if the Board get unhappy. I am very happy with the players we have and didn't plan on adding any more during the season. I won't be able to add any unless they are free signings after the last glance at the books. A tough trip to face Lanciano was at the start of our slate for December. It was a taut match- as the 4th place home side really needed a win against us. We wanted it just as badly, but it was the keepers that wound up dictating the fate of the match. Both keepers played great and the scoreless draw was a fair result for both clubs. We started quickly against Faenza at home as Antonio Donati scored after a nice run to give us the lead. Enrico Pento added a second half goal and that was all we needed as they managed only two shots on goal for the match. Our last match of 2003 was a trip to face Catania. Catania had been placed as high as 2nd earlier, but had been slumping and were dearly looking for a win to help right their fortunes. Donati stung them in the opening moments with a goal, but after that it was great football. Both clubs played up and down the pitch- but neither could score. Eros Schiavon proved to be the difference- as he subbed on for Giuseppe Sculli- his fresh legs made him dangerous and he was able to score two goals in a four minute stretch to put the match out of reach. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 24, 2004 Author Share Posted October 24, 2004 We opened January 2004 with an important match at Ezio Scida hosting rival Messina. Everyone was refreshed from our short break and ready to go in the match. Go we did, as we scored 4 first half goals on our way to a 4-1 win. Gaetano Mancino had the first goal, then Antonio Donati chipped in with two goals before Mirko Pagliarini added the last marker. We gave up a consolation goal, but it was an excellent effort all the way around. At the halfway point of the season (17 matches) Serie C1B 1. Crotone 47 (+30) 2. Messina 32 (+8) 3. Lanciano 30 (+10) 4. Arezzo 30 (+9) 5. Nocerina 30 (+0) 6. Giulinova 29 (+6) 7. Torres 27 (+9) 8. Pescara 25 (+6) 9. Poggese 25 (+6) First half goals from each of our forward tandem of Mirko Pagliarini and Gaetano Mancino were enough to push us past a stubborn Foggia squad. The 2-0 win could have been larger, but for our atrocious shooting. We closed out January with a strong offensive showing as we outscored Giulinova 4-2 in front of their disappointed fans. Thomas Manfredi scored his 1st goal to answer their early score. Pagliarini lost a goal to an offside call, but that only served to make him angry and he took it out on the home side- scoring two goals. Mancino scored the other goal as we took good advantage of our scoring chances today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 25, 2004 Author Share Posted October 25, 2004 Our island trip to visit Torres was a scary one- buffeted by howling winds, it looked like we might not be able to land- but they finally did. It was a good thing that we already had scored- a goal by Antonio Donati- when Cristian Adami was redcarded. Being in the lead made the job a lot simpler- just support Gabriele Paoletti and try and keep them from getting good shots. That worked for most of the match and when it didn't - Paoletti came up with the big saves. We also caught them pushing too far forward and sprung Eros Schiavon free to score his 5th goal of the season and clinch the match in the late stages of our 2-0 win. Donati and Gaetano Mancino scored early on and we got too comfortable against Arezzo. They scored one at the end of the first half and again early in the second half and we were back to even at 2-2. Francesco Musumeci, just back from injury, scored the match winning goal late in the second half as he headed a centering pass from Alessandro Zucchelli past Alessio Sarti to give us the 3-2 win. Pescara had dumped us from the Serie C Cup, and we wanted a bit of revenge on them. Despite that, I was trying to rest several players for this match too- and we had some injuries crop up as well. That meant I was apprehensive when we went behind as Fabio Artico scored for them. We answered that goal early in the second half when Liugi Biaggi headed a Cristian Adami corner home for his 1st goal at Crotone. We wound up stealing all three points in the closely played match when Giuseppe Sculli deflected a cross from Maurizio Costa into the net in second half injury time to give us the 2-1 win. Our match hosting Avellino was a see-saw affair. Donati scored to put us up, but it didn't last long. We went ahead again on Eros Schiavon's goal, but that also only listed a little while before the visitors evened things at 2-2. Schiavon scored the match winner in the last five minutes to cap a fine 3-2 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 26, 2004 Author Share Posted October 26, 2004 We opened March 2004 by travelling to Sora and crushing the struggling side 5-0. Antonio Donati had two goals, Gaetano Mancino had two goals and Giovanni Cioffi had one as we clinched a place at least in the playoffs with the win. We also set a new unbeaten streak record in Serie C1B with our 24 matches without a loss this season. The bad news is we are close to 1 Million in the red again- after starting out not badly off, that is disappointing despite our play this season. Nocerina had given us a tough tussle at Ezio Scida and our fans were a bit restless as we were even with them 1-1 and they had outplayed us for much of the first half. They lost track of Donati in the second half and that ruined them as he struck for the goal to put us in the lead and then crossed for Enrico Pento to clinch the 3-1 win. Fermana may have been in 17th place, but they played us even in the first half as they hosted us at Fermo. They had jumped on top early, but we quickly answered when Luigi Biaggi headed in a corner from Mirko Pagliarini. Antonio Donati took over the match to start the second half, scoring his 20th and 21st goals of the season in a matter of 4 minutes. We added a late marker from Eros Schiavon to finish off a solid 4-1 road victory. We found out on the trip back home that Messina had lost to Castel di Sangro- we had clinched the Serie C1B Championship. We had quite a reception from the fans as we arrived back in Crotone. It lasted a good while and I was forced to give the club the day off from training because of its aftermath. Despite clinching promotion back to Serie B, I have to admit I was worried. Our books were showing 1.2 Million in the red and sinking fast. It certainly meant that either we had to sell our best players- Antonio Donati was garnering a lot of 'big club' interest- or that we would have to succeed with the players on hand. I wasn't inclined to sell Donati- especially because he didn't have a minimum fee release to worry over. Fidelis Andria badly wanted to end our unbeaten string. They were in a dogfight for the last playoff position and a win over us would have helped them immensely. I think they were hoping we wouldn't be playing with the same kind of intensity- in that they were mistaken. We took the lead midway through the first half when Enrico Pento scored, but we had two excellent chances bounce back off the posts. They finally showed more life offensively in the second half and it was our turn to get lucky on the post and crossbar. They couldn't dent Riccardo Morelli as he put a clean sheet up on the board and we held on for the close 1-0 win. I have to admit a small bit of satisfaction as I saw that Marco Negri had blown up in the press again- and this time Zola had left him hanging in the breeze. San Marino looks to be on their way back down the Serie C1 play- as they are 18th in Serie B and have been struggling for quite some time. Amazing what a 'name' coach will gain you... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 27, 2004 Author Share Posted October 27, 2004 We fell behind to Poggese at Comunale in the opening moments of first match in April 2004, but we quickly roared back into the lead. Francesco Spezzano scored a pair of goals to move us ahead 2-1. We battled up and down the pitch in the second half and finally were able to score the clinching goal when Giuseppe Sculli fired one home late in the second half to make it a 3-1 win for us. Our 28 match unbeaten streak finally came to an end at the hands of Castel di Sangro. They came to Ezio Scida and played well- taking better advantage of their chances in beating us 3-2. The loss didn't come without controversy though as Mirko Pagliarini scored the equalizer after we had intense pressure in second half injury time. Lost in the celebration was that Sculli was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed. They had to call out the security to keep the fans from assaulting the referee as he left the stadium. We made a good try to come back- our goals were from Pagliarini and Simone Trinchera, but we hadn't played well enough to really earn the result. With the pressure from the unbeaten string now gone, it was time to feature the debuts of several youngsters from the Reserve side. We did just that in our trip to face Viterbese. One of them, Nunzio Di Dio, scored in his debut and we made that goal stand up for a 1-0 win. Also starting on the Seniors for the first time were foward Luigi Iaversi, midfielder Francesco Piccioni, defender Francesco Filanti and defender Matteo Rossi. All played well in contributing to the win. Our match against Lanciano at Ezio Scida was a showdown match of sorts. They wanted to keep 2nd place and show us that they were capable of beating us. We just wanted to prove to them who the best club was. They helped us with an own goal early in the first half, but then they piled on the pressure. Gabriele Paoletti, ably supported by our backline, stood tall and kept them from the scoring throughout the first half and in the furious maelstrom that started the second half. We finally took a lot of their enthusiam out when Francesco Pulidori scored on a free kick halfway through the second half. Gaetano Mancino added a late goal to clinch the match and we had a 3-0 win on the books. Faenza, already pretty much locked into the playoffs to avoid relegation, gave us all we could handle on our trip to visit them. Pagliarini had put us into the lead, but Francesco Musumeci had backed into Enrico Pomini during a corner and they converted the penalty kick to even things at 1-1. They had the pressure to start the second half, but we steadied and started playing better- having kept them from taking the lead. Pagliarini earned his MOM honours with a brilliant strike in second half injury time to give us a hard fought 2-1 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 28, 2004 Author Share Posted October 28, 2004 Catania was desperate to take away any points they could as they visited us to open May 2004. They needed at least a draw to preserve their chance of moving out of the bottom playout group. They were buoyed when they took the lead early on in the first half. We responded the same as we have all season- by turning on the pressure and making them pay for their mistakes. Antonio Donati and Mirko Pagliarini scored to leave us in front at halftime. We finished out the 4-1 win with goals from Gaetano Mancino and Giovanni Cioffi and assured Catania of a spot in the playout group. Like Catania, Messina was also desperate for points- and especially a win- as they hosted us in our final match of the season. They were in 4th place, but even with both 3rd place Torres and 5th place Avellino at 54 points going into match. All 3 clubs were only a point ahead of 6th place Pescara to have a shot at the playoffs. They certainly seemed to want it more, as they went out to a quick 2-0 lead as we made some defensive mistakes. We weren't about to make it easy on them and we rallied in the second half. Donati got us one goal back in the early going. They were desperately trying to stave off our pressure when Giuseppe Del Gaudio pounced on a rebound and put it in for his 1st Crotone goal after a Marco De Santis header had bounced back off the cross bar. That 84th minute equalizer allowed us to salvage a 2-2 draw against them. Fortunately for them, the odd club out in the musical chair shuffle was Avellino- who lost at Lanciano 2-1 to fall out of the playoffs. We finished the season close to 2 Million in the red, so while the Board was happy to be immediately returning to Serie B, they were also a little put out over the large deficit we ran during the season. It was disappointing to close out the season with a loss, but we did as we lost to Treviso 2-1 in the Serie C1 Super Cup. We dominated the match, but didn't make the most of our chances. They had scored a fluke goal in the first half to gain the lead, but we had finally drawn even when Antonio Donati scored. They took advantage of a late free kick and Francesco de Francesco boomed home a 25 yard blast for his 10th goal of the season past Gabriele Paoletti to send our fans at Ezio Scida home disappointed. There was one last celebration for the players. Seven players were selected as starters on the Serie C1B Players Team of the Year- Antonio Donati, Francesco Musumeci, Francesco Spezzano, Cristian Adami, Thomas Manfreddi, Federico Bracci and Gabriele Paoletti. Donati was also selected as Player of the Year for his performance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted October 31, 2004 Author Share Posted October 31, 2004 Summer 2004 San Marino finished 19th in Serie B. I won't miss seeing them as we move up and they move down- it still left a bitter taste in my mouth. Despite the success of Crotone this season- the press wasn't going to give me any credit. They attributed it to the fact that Crotone had just suffered a down year to get relegated- and had bounced back stronger than ever. Never mind the retooling of their roster. I couldn't care less at this point, as the press and I had reached a cold war stage and we were ignoring each other. I thought long and hard about it- but decided we needed to try and clear some of the debt facing the club. With that in mind, I transfer listed Mirko Pagliarini and Michele Bacis- both top wage earners- and hoped to get something to help. I was stunned when less than a week later it was announced that we now had a new Board. Not only that, but our 2 Million in debt was gone and they were making over 4 Million available in transfer funds. I had to thank somebody above for that kind of gift- now I also had to figure out how to either sooth feelings or follow through on trying to sell players. We had already released Edoardo Artistico, Marco Pecorari, Carmine Leone, Stefano Negro, Matteo Rossi and Luigi Iaversi- all of whose contracts had run out in June. I didn't expect to miss any of them and had planned on all of them leaving. With July 1st arriving, we greeted four new Bosman signings. David Baglioni was a familiar face, a DC who had thrived when I was at San Marino, but hadn't been played much after I left. Inicio Pia was a young Brazilian/Italian forward who had been playing sparingly at Atalanta and was willing to come to us for a chance to play regularly. Giuseppe Colucci had been an Under-21 player already, but had lost his starting role at Verona as midfielder and was willing to go to Crotone for a chance at starting. Emiliano Bonazzoli was a mid 20s SC who hadn't been able to crack the starting lineup at Parma and was looking for a chance to do so. The addition of those two forwards made me decide to continue trying to transfer Pagliarini. Money in hand, I decided to wait on spending any of it- especially remembering all of last season's problems. With the free transfer of Andre Fiore to Cittadella and the release of Neto, Armando Piccorilli and the Bosman transfer of Giuseppe Geraldi to Rondinella we were making progress on reducing wages and trimming the fat off the roster. I did sign promising forward Alessandro Pellicori on free transfer after he was released by Lecce. Our last addition before the Italian Cup competition started was the purchase of Andrea Iervasi from Potenza for 85K. Iervasi is an offensive minded left winger who should help provide midfield cover while getting a few starts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted November 1, 2004 Author Share Posted November 1, 2004 We hosted Serie A side Bari to open up the Italian Cup play. Despite having played well in our three friendlies- we didn't have a cohesive attack against the stronger club and they wound up taking the 1-0 win on the basis of a late second half goal. We didn't really play poorly, but we can't not be at our best and expect to do well against stronger sides. Visiting fellow Serie B side Pistoiese, we played a stronger match- but were extremely fortunate to come away with a 1-0 win. Gabriele Paoletti was superb in net and earned his clean sheet bonus in this match. Our only goal came late in the second half when Emiliano Bonnazoli scored in his debut. David Baglioni's addition has helped the backline and he earned MOM honours in this match. Our Serie B debut on the road at Ascoli was entirely forgettable. They scored early on us and then Francesco Musumeci earned a pair of quick yellow cards to leave us undermanned. They took advantage and scored their 2nd goal on a corner and then just ground it out in the midfield- preventing us from really challenging them as they finished out the 2-0 win. It was a much better road match for us as we bested Rimini 3-1 in the final match of our Italian Cup Group 1. Though we won 3-1 on goals from Mirko Pagliarini, Giovanni Cioffi and surprisingly his 1st for us from Marco De Santis. The late goal we yielded hurt us as we wound up dead even with Bari on goals for and against (due to their 2-1 loss to Ascoli) and they ended up advancing because of their 1-0 win over us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted November 2, 2004 Author Share Posted November 2, 2004 The performance of Mirko Pagliarini finally convinced Cosenza to make a bid on him and I promptly accepted it. His sale for 850K likely ensures we will finish the season in the black now- since his large salary was a big burden on us. If possible, I don't plan to spend much of the funds available- since we are still going to be travelling down the redbrick road with our wages on a monthly basis and I want to finish this season in the black. Our first match in September 2004 was a trip to visit Vicenza. They scored midway through the first half as we spent our time floundering around again- not making passes and not getting any offensive pressure. Gabriele Paoletti steadied after the first goal and kept us in the match. We broke through in the second half when Antonio Donati scored his 1st goal of the season off a nice pass from Inicio Pia to even things at 1-1. It looked like Pia had given us the lead moments later, but Donati was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed. We had to settle for the 1-1 draw as the final. It was a better performance for us, but we could have used the win. We surprised favored Sampdoria in our first Serie B match in Ezio Scida. Francesco Pulidori gave us a quick lead with a beautiful move with the ball and a quick shot past Matteo Sereni. They quickly evened the match, but just as quickly we struck back when Alessandro Pellicori scored his 1st goal for us. The second half was a see-saw battle and it seemed we had gained a big advantage when Sereni brought down Giovanni Cioffi in the area. Gaetano Marcino converted the penalty kick to give us a two-goal lead. That lead lasted mere moments as they drew a goal back. We backed off and though they swarmed our net- they couldn't gain the equalizer as we finished out a 3-2 win. A trip to last place Siena was another match we really wanted to win. Giuseppe Colucci started repaying the signing bonus as he led us to a close 2-0 win over the home side. We were helped in the first half by a Nelson Vivas own goal to get us into the lead, but it was Colucci's superb pass that found Emiliano Bonazzoli for the clinching goal late in the second half. Riccardo Morelli played well in keeping them off the scoreboard in this one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted November 3, 2004 Author Share Posted November 3, 2004 Our match at Ezio Scida to open October 2004 was very frustrating as we wound up in a scoreless draw against SPAL. Alessandro Pellicori scored twice in the second half, but he was ruled offsides both times and both goals were disallowed. Add to that the close chance we had at a late penalty kick that was waved off- and it left me feeling a bit poorly toward the referee. A lot of our problems came out in the Lecce match as they embarrassed us 4-1 in front of our home fans. Aldo Osorio completely overpowered Federico Bracci on the backline, as he earned a hat-trick in the match. Gabriele Paoletti had his worst match for us and the free kick that he allowed late in the match just capped a poor performance. Our only goal came from Gaetano Mancino. The lack of heart on the players out there disappointed me and I made several lineup adjustments based on that. The Board was very unhappy with our effort as we lost to rival Reggiana 1-0. The only reason the match was that close was that Paoletti had gotten himself together and played a superb match in net for us this time. We just can't get our offense rolling now- and we are missing the good chances that we generate. It was another disappointing effort and this entire month has been a frustration so far. Our match against Napoli at Ezio Scida started on a bad note as Antonio Donati went down with leg injury in the opening moments (only missed 2 weeks fortunately). Giovanni Cioffi filled in well though and we came close to scoring three times after he subbed on. Napoli then scored on their first shot of the match as Roberto Stellone fired home his 5th of the season. They came close to breaking the match wide open with pressure to start the second half, but then it was our turn. Cioffi and Emiliano Bonazzoli scored within four minutes of each other and we made those goals stand up with a surprise 2-1 win over the 4th placed visitors. In our trip to Verona, we finally showed a good glimpse of the excellent club we had been last season. They rattled the post in the early going, but Paoletti came up big and saved several chances to keep us even in the opening moments. Our quick strike offense showed up finally and we moved ahead 2-0 on goals from Bonazzoli and the 1st goal for Maurizio Costa. They drew one back, but Costa scored his 2nd of the match to make sure we led at half 3-1. We clinched the match late in the second half as Cioffi scored to give us a final winning margin of 4-1. We wasted a chance to earn all three points for a win when we let visiting Cittadella score late in the match to bring them back to a 2-2 draw. They had scored first in the match, but we had rallied for goals by Bonazzoli and Mancino to move ahead in the second half. Stefano Trinchera couldn't cover Giorgio Gorgone and he raced in to score the equalizer on a rebound after Riccardo Morelli had parried away a blast from Sandro Gianni. With the draw we were in 8th place- but only 4 points out of 4th in the pack of trailing clubs for the promotion spots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted November 4, 2004 Author Share Posted November 4, 2004 Alex Brunner was better than Gabriele Paoletti in the televised battle of the keepers as we lost at home to Cosenza 1-0 to begin November 2004. It was disappointing, but we gave a good effort in the match. Antonio Donati continues to be the player most troubling me. After leading our club in scoring (and leading San Marino in scoring twice as well), he is having an off season so far- with only 1 goal so far. We lost Giuseppe Colucci before the match to a training injury and we missed him in midfield. Alessandro Pellicori went off with a strained ankle and we won't see him playing again for another month. Cagliari outshot us 20-9 (including 14-5 in the first half alone) and we couldn't contain Fabrizio Cammarata as he scored a hat-trick in leading them to a 3-2 win over us at Sant'Elia. Our goals came from Donati and Bonazzoli, but it wasn't enough as our backline had little luck in marking Cammarata and he took full advantage of their failure. We hosted Perugia desperate for a win to get us back on track. When they scored in the openining moments on a beautiful cross that was headed past Paoletti, you could almost hear our fans saying 'not again'. This match was different though as we turned up the pressure on them and Francesco Musumeci got us back to 1-1 midway through the first half. Donati scored after a brilliant run to give us the lead and Musumeci deflected a Donati corner in to move us ahead 3-1 at half. We put them away when Gaetano Mancino scored to make it 4-1 and they lost a lot of their heart. The win was a very big one, as we had slid to 14th in the standings, but the win boosted us back to 9th in the fluid table. Despite outshooting Palermo 18-6, we fell them on Sicily by a 2-0 score. They scored an early goal on Riccardo Morelli and then added a late goal. We generated lots of chances, especially Antonio Donati, but we could not solve Vincenzo Sicignano in this one as he maintained a clean sheet and earned MOM honours for his efforts. Since the beginning of October we had 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses- it was a bad string for us, yet we hadn't played all that bad. Of the five losses- three were by one goal. If we could just get a bit of offensive improvement, I was hoping our fortunes might change. It was extremely amusing to see that Gianfraca Zola had jumped ship from San Marino to take over the Siena job. All those problems seem long past to me now, and even most of the press seems willing to now accept me as a genuine manager- but the bitter humour of all the tribulations at my starting point occasionally wash over me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted November 6, 2004 Author Share Posted November 6, 2004 Our first match in December 2004 was hosting the club immediately above us in the standings- Treviso. That made it an important match and we responded well. When their keeper- Marco Fortin- was redcarded for pulling Emiliano Bonazzoli down in the area at 14 minutes, we took full advantage. Gaetano Mancino converted the penalty kick to give us the lead. Antonio Donati and Bonazzoli also scored first half goals as we cruised home to a 3-0 win over the undermanned visitors. It was a close match in our trip to Brescia, but we fell behind when towering Luca Toni proved too much for our defense to handle as he scored twice in the first half. We adjusted in the second half and Donati scored his 5th goal, but Federico Agliardi had the hot hand and we couldn't manage to get the equalizer past him- despite intense pressure and we lost 2-1. Salernitana was aiming for a win when they visited us at Ezio Scida. Trailing us by a couple points in the standings, it was an important match for both clubs. After a scoreless first half we finally took the lead when Bonazzoli drove a hard, low shot for his 5th goal of the season. They promptly answered by converting a corner into a header past Gabriele Paoletti. Bonazzoli then scored the match winning goal midway through the second half. We had to survive a furious last minute rally from the visitors for the 2-1 win. The day after the Salernitana match, I received an offer on Inacio Pia that I could not refuse. Kashima Antlers bid his minimum fee release of 1.2 Million and they offered him a rich contract compared to what we had with him- so he was on his way to Japan. Though I thought he had a lot of potential, he didn't seem to be adapting to our attacking system, so the loss wasn't too great to the club in overall terms. With the loss of Pia and the impending loss of backup defender Michele Bacsis- I felt we had to get a little more cover. We signed off a pair of 21 yr old players off the free transfer list to help out. Antonio Setaro was an SC from the Roma youth program and Stefano Lanzellotto was a DLC out of the Modena youth system. I also released Alfredo Cardinale after his spending close to a year on the free transfer list without any takers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted November 7, 2004 Author Share Posted November 7, 2004 January 2005 brought the opening of the player transfer window again and Bacis left for Cosenza for 210K. I also let Francesco Spezzano go on free transfer to Messina. Spezzano hadn't been playing much this season and was close to declaring leaving on Bosman. I didn't want to pay his salary for the remainder of the season so free listed him to try and move him now. It was a frustrating start to the New Year as we lost while visiting fellow promotees Lanciano. Gerardo Mattera, their young keeper, had a terrific match and though we had taken the lead early on an Antonio Donati goal- that was all we could manage despite a barrage of shots. Gabriele Paoletti wasn't quite as sharp in our net and they came from behind with a pair of second half goals to beat us 2-1. Last place Pistoiese found us very poor hosts as we were still stung from the loss to Lanciano and took it out on them. By the fifteen minute mark we were ahead of our visitors 3-0 on goals from Alessandro Della Vella (1st at Crotone), Eros Schiavon and Giovanni Cioffi. Schiavon added his 2nd of the match before we allowed them a late consolation goal in our 4-1 win. With the win we reached the midpoint of our Serie B season in 10th place overall (27 pts.- 4th place Verona had 35, 17th place Lanciano had 16) and muddling along in the middle of the pack. Our match against Ascoli was one of the wilder ones that I can remember. We were behind in the opening moments when Paoletti was yellow carded for taking down Saimon Crodino in the area and Salvatore Bruno converted the penalty kick. Minutes later we were up 2-1 after Gaetano Mancino and Giuseppe Colucci struck for goals less than three minutes apart. Colucci's had come on a free kick after Djiby Tagherset was redcarded for a tackle from behind. With only 10 men, they allowed Mancino to get free and he scored his 2nd goal to make it 3-1, but the referee gave that one back moments later when Thomas Manfredi was called for pushing Bruno in the area and Bruno converted his 2nd penalty kick to bring it back to 3-2. Donati blasted a low shot into the corner of the net to give us a 4-2 halftime lead. In the early moments of the second half Vittorio Pinciarelli pushed Federico Bracci in the air on a corner and Mancino converted the penalty kick for his hat-trick and a 5-2 lead. Ascoli wasn't done yet and got a goal back when they deflected a free kick past Paoletti. We kept the scoring quiet after that to finish out a 5-3 win that featured 3 penalty kicks, 9 yellow cards, and a host of bad feelings from Ascoli to the referee. Lecce had all the answers as they hosted us in our next match. We didn't play badly, and had plenty of chances to score, but their keeper Antonio Chimenti played very well and they took advantage of their chances against Riccardo Morelli as they defeated us 2-0. It was just a pile of frustrating events as we wound up in a 1-1 draw against Vicenza at Ezio Scida. Early in the match Gabriele Paoletti went down with a leg injury which will keep him out for the next month. Macino put us into the lead shortly after that, but it could have been 2-0 had Francesco Pulidori's goal not been lost to an offside call on Mancino. They evened the match just before half when Riccardo Morelli could not handle a low, skipping shot and it trickled past him. We pounded away the entire second half and wound up outshooting them 18-8, but we couldn't gain the go ahead goal and had to split the points. Sampdoria had an easy time dumping us by a 2-0 margin at Genova. They outshot us 18-4 and only the fine play of Riccardo Morelli in net kept us in the match. We showed very little offensively and played an entirely forgettable match as they handled us with very little trouble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faramir Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 February 2005 started better for us than January ended as we hosted struggling Siena. For Zola, this was out of the frying pan at San Marino and into the fire- because they will likely be seeing San Marino in Serie C1A thanks to their struggles which have them in 18th place. It took a long hard match for us, but Antonio Donati contributed two second half goals and Eros Schiavon subbed on include his goal in the 3-0 win over Siena. Our trip to Ferrara netted us nothing but a last minute 2-2 draw against last place SPAL. We took the first half lead on a goal from Donati, but they roared back with two goals in a five minute span to take the lead. Alessandro Pellicori salvaged the draw for us when he scored for the first time in months in second half injury time. We gave a much stronger effort as we capitalized by two goals in a five minute stretch in the first half to edge Reggina 2-0. Donati and Giovanni Cioffi both scored on volleyed shots off good passes to provide the margin in the match. Our backline played a very strong match in support of Morelli's clean sheet. At the 26 match mark (2/3 of the way through), we were currently 9th place in Serie B. We were 10 points adrift of 4th place Verona and 15 points ahead of 17th place Treviso and seemed well locked into a midtable finish- which was much better than the previous Serie B campaigns for Crotone as they had been in relegation battles. Napoli was going to be tough to stay with 11 men, but Francesco Musumeci's early redcard put us in a bad way against them. We managed to survive a scoreless first half, but the roof fell in when we tired in the second half and we fell them by a 3-1 score. Our only goal was a consolation goal scored by Emiliano Bonazzoli late in the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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