It's true, everyone expected Chievo to pull it off. Even Italian analysts were writing Catania off, it was a true surprise.
I was pulling for Chievo. Just because I'll always root a Northern team against a southern if that's what it comes down too
Chievo's fairytale comes to a close Chievo Verona's fairytale is over. The small neighborhood club which rose to the upper ranks of Serie A has been relegated after six seasons of unexpected glory. By most accounts, Chievo was done in by its own success -- and the failure of others. Having finished seventh in the Serie A last season, Chievo was bumped up to fourth after penalties were handed out in the Italian match-fixing scandal. With fourth place, Chievo unexpectedly qualified for the preliminary round of the Champions League. The club completely revised its preparation to qualify for European competition, but was promptly eliminated by Levski Sofia in August before it could reach the lucrative group stage. Relegated to the UEFA Cup, Chievo was beaten by Braga in the first round. Chievo never recovered from the early losses, and even the return of coach Luigi Del Neri six rounds into the Serie A season couldn't stop the downward spiral. Chievo didn't win a game in the Italian league until the 13th round. "Evidently, if we've been relegated we've made some errors, but the Chievo fairytale isn't over," Del Neri said after Sunday's 2-0 loss to Catania. "Now we've got to start over and return where we've shown we belong." Chievo was always known as the "other Verona team," taking its name from the neighborhood from which it drew its fans. The city's main team Verona won the Serie A title in 1985, but has been in Serie B the last few seasons. Del Neri was Chievo's coach when the club achieved its first promotion for the 2001-02 Serie A season, in which it briefly led the division ahead of powerhouses Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan. Chievo went on to finish fifth in its debut season and recorded top-10 finishes in four of its six seasons in Serie A. "We've experienced some great seasons and it's probably fitting that we also have to experience this bitterness," Chievo captain Salvatore Lanna said. Chievo's initial success was based on a core of unknown but talented players, such as midfielders Simone Perrotta, Simone Barone, Luciano and Eugenio Corini; and forwards Bernardo Corradi and Federico Cossato. The problems began when players left or grew old and Chievo was unable to replace them. Perrotta and Barone departed and became members of Italy's squad that won the World Cup last year. Corini is now the captain of Palermo and Corradi is with Manchester City. Luciano called himself Eriberto during Chievo's glory years, then announced his actual name was Luciano and he had changed it to claim he was younger. He's still with the club but in declining form at 31. Cossato is also still in Verona but doesn't make much of an impact anymore at 34. Lanna -- in his 11th season with Chievo -- and Lorenzo D'Anna -- in his 13th season -- still anchor the club's defense. "It's a difficult blow to absorb," Del Neri said. "Italian soccer should feel sorry for us, because Chievo showed that with little you can achieve a lot."
Chievo end Del Neri contract http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun1r.html Im pretty shocked at what the club has done here, i was pretty confident that he could once again do wonders at the club. Since he came in to replace Pillon this year i thought we improved out of sight, and even though we lost to Catania & got relegated our form was good. I will be interesting to see who they pick as the successor to Del Neri, whether or not they go for D'Angelo or an experienced coach as it is a crutch 1st season back in B. Good luck to the 'miracle man' Del Neri in his future coaching roles, he will always be a hero at Chievo Verona.
Chievo appoint Iachini http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun15l.html Havent been on this forum for 2 days so unable to keep up with the info, so logged on now find that we have appointed Giuseppe Iachini as our new coach. Will be interesting to see what he can do at our club, the sides that he has coached he has done quite well at with good results. He has played in football in Verona before so he is not new to the area, hopefully he can keep a portion of the squad together and build from there.
I remember Giuseppe Iachini as a player between the Serie A & B. He was a good midfielder. His coaching experience has only been in Serie B and 1 stint in C1.
He has coached in Serie A before with Venezia although he done it illegally, which lead to him being suspended for 6 months.
Thats because he was born and played for the right city To King_allsopp i got ur e-mail i'll properly respond when i have so more free time.
Semioli move to Fiorentina looks to be getting closer, Chievo are demanding a trasnfer fee aswell as Gobbi & Do Prado moving from Fiorentina to Chievo.