2003-4 Serie B discussions [R]

This thread is a little late in starting, just like the Serie B season itself. At any rate, somebody suggested we should have one, so here it is. It's certainly been a chaotic Serie B season so far, a continuation of the off-season. At any rate, here are the current standings, keeping in mind not all teams have played the same number of games:

Code:

Week 5 Pts P W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A 
Cagliari 10 5 3 1 1 10 2 2 1 0 7 1 1 0 1 3 1 
Catania 10 5 3 1 1 10 6 0 1 1 1 4 3 0 0 9 2 
Ternana 9 4 3 0 1 8 4 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 1 5 4 
Torino 9 4 3 0 1 7 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 3 
Atalanta 8 4 2 2 0 6 2 1 0 0 2 1 1 2 0 4 1 
Triestina 8 4 2 2 0 8 6 2 0 0 6 4 0 2 0 2 2 
Palermo 8 4 2 2 0 4 2 2 0 0 3 1 0 2 0 1 1 
Piacenza 8 4 2 2 0 3 1 2 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 
Ascoli 7 4 2 1 1 3 4 2 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 
Verona 6 4 1 3 0 6 5 1 2 0 5 4 0 1 0 1 1 
Livorno 5 4 1 2 1 5 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 5 5 
Albinoleffe 4 4 1 1 2 4 5 1 1 1 3 3 0 0 1 1 2 
Treviso 4 4 0 4 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 1 
Bari 4 4 1 1 2 7 8 1 0 1 3 3 0 1 1 4 5 
Pescara 4 4 1 1 2 3 6 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 2 6 
Como 4 5 1 1 3 3 8 0 1 2 2 7 1 0 1 1 1 
Fiorentina 3 4 0 3 1 3 4 0 2 0 2 2 0 1 1 1 2 
Napoli 3 4 0 3 1 3 4 0 1 1 1 2 0 2 0 2 2 
Vicenza 3 4 0 3 1 3 4 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 2 3 
Messina 3 4 0 3 1 3 6 0 3 0 3 3 0 0 1 0 3 
Salernitana 2 4 0 2 2 3 5 0 2 1 2 3 0 0 1 1 2 
Avellino 2 3 0 2 1 1 3 0 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 
Venezia 1 4 0 1 3 1 6 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 2 0 2 
Genoa 1 4 0 1 3 0 5 0 1 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 1

Only four teams participated as scheduled in week 2 -- Cagliari, Catania, Como and Napoli. The rest of those games will be made up on Oct 8. Further, there has not been an official ruling yet on the postponed Avellino-Napoli game last weekend although it's widely expected that the game will be ruled a victory for Avellino.

The goal-scoring chart looks like this:

Spinesi (Bari) 6 (1 penalty)
Moscardelli (Triestina) 5
Oliveira (Catania) 4 (2)
Esposito (Cagliari) 3
Pinardi (Atalanta) 3
Possanzini (Albinoleffe) 3
Zampagna (Ternana) 3 (1)
Protti (Livorno) 3 (2)

Remember, 5 (and perhaps 6) teams get promoted this season, so it'll be a wild ride. Here are the teams I would like to see go up:

Cagliari
Torino
Napoli
Palermo
Catania (I have my reasons )
and - as long as Reggina is not in the playoff with them - Bari.

 

a) I don't think Gaucci was necessarily wrong. The league thought they were God, and he knocked Galliani, Carraro et al down a peg or two. Do I agree with all of his techniques? No, but I disagree more with the league for arbitrarily dismissing their original and legitimate protest, which - really - ultimately resulted in the entire mess.

b) I like Luis Oliveira. Classy player.

c) I have relatives in Catania.

As for the others, I'm not predicting these, just saying I want them, and here's why -

Cagliari - I'd like to see Zola in Serie A
Torino - Juve deserves a derby opponent
Napoli - instant increase in attendance and passion in the league
Palermo - ditto
Bari - another southern team, why not.

 

Wow, what a list. What ever happened to O'Neill? Is he back playing in South America? He was great with Cagliari, and I really thought he was going to make a mark for Juventus. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

Anyway, last night's Serie B results:

Atalanta 2 Cagliari 1 (sorry, Sardinia!)
Bari 0 Albinoleffe 1 (what a shocker! 3 losses in a row for Bari - is Tardelli in trouble?)
Catania 1 Messina 0
Fiorentina 2 Piacenza 1 (big first win for Fiorentina, albeit against 10 men)
Livorno 2 Salernitana 0
Napoli 1 Ascoli 1 (Napoli's first home game at a neutral site)
Pescara 1 Triestina 0
Ternana 1 Genoa 0 (STILL no goals scored for Genoa on the season)
Torino 2 Palermo 1 (the big match)
Treviso 2 Como 0
Venezia 2 Avellino 1
Vicenza 1 Verona 2

A round up can be found here:

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/breports6.html

The table (all teams on 5 games played, except where noted):

Catania 13 (6 GP)
Ternana 12
Torino 12
Atalanta 11
Cagliari 10 (6 GP)
Verona 9
Livorno 8
Palermo 8
Piacenza 8
Triestina 8
Ascoli 8
Treviso 7
Albinoleffe 7
Pescara 7
Fiorentina 6
Napoli 4
Bari 4
Venezia 4
Como 4 (6 GP)
Vicenza 3
Messina 3
Avellio 2 (4 GP)
Salernitana 2
Genoa 1

And the goal-scoring table. Rigano and Ferrante each had two to move among the leaders.

Spinesi (Bari) 6 (1 pk)
Moscardelli (Triestina) 5
Rigano (Fiorentina) 4
Ferrante (Torino) 4 (1)
Oliveira (Catania) 4 (2)

 

Things I noticed ....

... Genoa scored their first two goals of the season to beat Bari. What is up with Bari!? Tardelli has to be in trouble there. He and Spinesi were both sent off.

... Salernitana got their first win of the season, over Fiorentina. A bad loss for the viola. Big controversy over whether a Rigano' header crossed the line in the last minute. h

... I watched the first half of Como-Piacenza and the visitors had a nice 2-0 lead. I switched before Como's Makinwa tied it with two headers.

... good road win for Atalanta puts them on top of the table.

The make-up for the week 2 games that were not played is this Wednesday.

The scoring leaders:

Spinesi (Bari) 6 (1 pen)
Moscardelli (Triestina) 5
Oliveira (Catania) 5 (3)
Budan (Atalanta) 4
Lucarelli (Livorno) 4
Rigano' (Fiorentina) 4
Ferrante (Torino) 4 (1)
Myrtaj (Verona) 4 (1)

 

Recouped Week 2 results:

Ascoli 0 Genoa 1 (two wins in a row now for Genoa)
Atalanta 0 Venezia 0 (Atalanta drops from top spot)
Livorno 3 Messina 0 (Messina is crap)
Palermo 1 Piacenza 1 (last-minute equalizer for the visitors disappoints the Sicilians)
Pescara 0 Fiorentina 0 ('tina lucky to tie)
Ternana 2 Verona 0 (Ternana into first place)
Torino 0 Salernitana 1 (shocker)
Treviso 2 Albinoleffe 1 (home team comes back from a goal down)
Triestina 2 Avellino 1 (Zeman is in trouble)
Vicenza 1 Bari 1 (ditto for Bari's Tardelli)

Among the goal-leaders, Lucarelli and Protti both scored for Livorno to move onto 5 and 4, respectively while Zampagna got one to move onto 4 for Ternana.

 

Bottom club Messina is the second team to fire their head coach, replacing Vincenzo Patania with Bortolo Mutti. Mutti's last coaching job was with Reggina last season, when he was fired a couple months into the season.

 

Watched some of the Atalanta-Triestina and Como-Palermo games on Sunday and finally watched all of the highlights last night ...

- Atalanta looked good, are back atop the table and seem shoo-ins for promotion

- I already said Messina is crap, so Avellino is crappier than crap. Messina won 1-0 but should've had at least two more goals since they missed two PKs! Avellino's only "win" was their forfeit victory over Napoli, or else they'd have just one point. Messina was inspired by their new coach.

- I think Bari must just be lining up a new coach before they fire Tardelli. Too bad for him. I hope he ends up on his feet somewhere because I think he can still be a good coach.

- Como's Eugenio Fascetti is also in danger of being axed after their home loss to Palermo dropped them to the foot of the table. Hey, I bet that's what Bari is waiting for .....

- Napoli and Livorno played a scoreless game in front of - nobody. The highlights are wierd - like a scrimmage, you can hear the players yelling, etc. It's like watching a game in the US!

- Genoa had a nice fightback to get a point at Venezia.

- Surprising win for Pescara over Torino.

- Another surprise was little AlbinoLeffe winning at Verona. They have some real talent there! They're being tabbed as the "next Chievo"!

Atalanta's Budan took over the goalscoring lead:

Budan (Atalanta) 6
Spinesi (Bari) 6 (1 pen)
Esposito (Cagliari) 5
Lucarelli (Livorno) 5
Moscardelli (Triestina) 5
Rigano' (Fiorentina) 5
Ferrante (Torino) 5 (2)
Myrtaj (Verona) 5 (2)
Oliveira (Catania) 5 (3)

 

Another round of games last night. Boy, this 24-team league means lots and lots of games. Anyway, to the results:

Ascoli 2 Venezia 1
Atalanta 1 Pescara 0
Genoa 4 Albinoleffe 2
Livorno 1 Bari 1
Messina 2 Piacenza 0
Palermo 2 Fiorentina 0
Salernitana 1 Avellino 0
Ternana 3 Catania 1
Torino 4 Cagliari 2
Treviso 0 Napoli 1
Triestina 2 Verona 2
Vicenza 0 Como 1


Brief summaries in English:
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/breports9.html

Good home wins for promotion-seekers Atalanta, Torino, Ternana and Palermo. Big road wins for relegation-battlers Napoli and Como. And surely Zeman will be gone from Avellino after yet another loss.

The table:

Code:

Week 9 Pts P W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A 
Atalanta 21 9 6 3 0 15 5 4 1 0 9 3 2 2 0 6 2 
Ternana 19 9 6 1 2 14 8 4 1 0 9 1 2 0 2 5 7 
Palermo 18 9 5 3 1 11 6 4 1 0 8 3 1 2 1 3 3 
Livorno 16 9 4 4 1 12 6 2 2 0 6 1 2 2 1 6 5 
Torino 16 9 5 1 3 14 9 3 0 1 7 4 2 1 2 7 5 
Cagliari 14 9 4 2 3 18 10 3 1 0 10 1 1 1 3 8 9 
Catania 14 9 4 2 3 14 12 1 2 1 3 5 3 0 2 11 7 
Ascoli 14 9 4 2 3 8 9 3 0 2 5 4 1 2 1 3 5 
Treviso 13 9 3 4 2 8 7 3 1 1 7 4 0 3 1 1 3 
Piacenza 13 9 3 4 2 8 8 3 1 0 3 0 0 3 2 5 8 
Triestina 13 9 3 4 2 13 14 3 2 0 10 7 0 2 2 3 7 
Genoa 11 9 3 2 4 9 10 2 1 2 6 6 1 1 2 3 4 
Albinoleffe 11 9 3 2 4 11 13 1 2 1 3 3 2 0 3 8 10 
Salernitana 11 9 3 2 4 6 8 2 2 1 4 3 1 0 3 2 5 
Pescara 11 9 3 2 4 7 10 3 1 0 4 1 0 1 4 3 9 
Fiorentina 10 9 2 4 3 8 9 2 2 0 6 3 0 2 3 2 6 
Verona 10 9 2 4 3 13 15 1 2 2 8 9 1 2 1 5 6 
Messina 10 9 2 4 3 8 12 1 4 0 7 5 1 0 3 1 7 
Napoli 9 9 1 6 2 5 8 0 3 1 2 3 1 3 1 3 5 
Vicenza 8 9 1 5 3 7 9 0 2 2 3 5 1 3 1 4 4 
Como 8 9 2 2 5 6 13 0 2 3 4 10 2 0 2 2 3 
Venezia 7 9 1 4 4 6 11 1 2 1 5 7 0 2 3 1 4 
Bari 6 9 1 3 5 10 15 1 0 3 4 6 0 3 2 6 9 
Avellino 5 9 1 2 6 6 10 1 1 3 4 5 0 1 3 2 5 

Goal-scorers:

Budan (Atalanta) 6
Esposito (Cagliari) 6
Moscardelli (Triestina) 6
Spinesi (Bari) 6 (1 pen)
Ferrante (Torino) 6 (2)
Oliveira (Catania) 6 (3)
Lucarelli (Livorno) 5
Rigano' (Fiorentina) 5
Myrtaj (Verona) 5 (2)
Corini (Palermo) 5 (5)

Huh, all 5 of Corini's goals are from PKs.

 

BIG win for Atalanta at Torino. Cagliari gets a nice victory and Bari breaks their losing skid. Free kick by Di Livio is enough for Fiorentina, and Messina has now won three straight since changing coaches.

The table:

Code:

Week 10 Pts P W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A 
Atalanta 24 10 7 3 0 16 5 4 1 0 9 3 3 2 0 7 2 
Ternana 22 10 7 1 2 16 8 4 1 0 9 1 3 0 2 7 7 
Palermo 19 10 5 4 1 12 7 4 1 0 8 3 1 3 1 4 4 
Cagliari 17 10 5 2 3 22 11 4 1 0 14 2 1 1 3 8 9 
Torino 16 10 5 1 4 14 10 3 0 2 7 5 2 1 2 7 5 
Livorno 16 10 4 4 2 13 10 2 2 0 6 1 2 2 2 7 9 
Piacenza 16 10 4 4 2 10 8 4 1 0 5 0 0 3 2 5 8 
Catania 15 10 4 3 3 15 13 1 2 1 3 5 3 1 2 12 8 
Ascoli 15 10 4 3 3 10 11 3 0 2 5 4 1 3 1 5 7 
Fiorentina 13 10 3 4 3 9 9 3 2 0 7 3 0 2 3 2 6 
Treviso 13 10 3 4 3 8 9 3 1 1 7 4 0 3 2 1 5 
Messina 13 10 3 4 3 10 12 2 4 0 9 5 1 0 3 1 7 
Triestina 13 10 3 4 3 14 18 3 2 0 10 7 0 2 3 4 11 
Genoa 12 10 3 3 4 10 11 2 2 2 7 7 1 1 2 3 4 
Albinoleffe 12 10 3 3 4 12 14 1 3 1 4 4 2 0 3 8 10 
Pescara 12 10 3 3 4 8 11 3 1 0 4 1 0 2 4 4 10 
Salernitana 11 10 3 2 5 6 10 2 2 1 4 3 1 0 4 2 7 
Napoli 10 10 1 7 2 6 9 0 4 1 3 4 1 3 1 3 5 
Verona 10 10 2 4 4 13 16 1 2 2 8 9 1 2 2 5 7 
Bari 9 10 2 3 5 14 16 2 0 3 8 7 0 3 2 6 9 
Vicenza 9 10 1 6 3 8 10 0 2 2 3 5 1 4 1 5 5 
Venezia 8 10 1 5 4 7 12 1 3 1 6 8 0 2 3 1 4 
Como 8 10 2 2 6 6 15 0 2 4 4 12 2 0 2 2 3 
Avellino 6 10 1 3 6 8 12 1 2 3 6 7 0 1 3 2 5 

And the leading scorers:

Spinesi (Bari) 8 (1 pen)
Oliveira (Catania) 7 (3)
Budan (Atalanta) 6
Esposito (Cagliari) 6
Lucarelli (Livorno) 6
Moscardelli (Triestina) 6
Ferrante (Torino) 6 (2)
Rigano' (Fiorentina) 5
Myrtaj (Verona) 5 (2)
Corini (Palermo) 5 (5)

 

Watched the Ternana-Avellino game. Pretty exciting. After Avellino's keeper was ejected in the 17th minute, last-placed Avellino managed to hold off the siege on their goal until the 54th minute. Two goals by Ternana's Jimenez within 5 minutes seemed to seal matters for the homestanding promotion favorites. But, incredibly, Avellino fought back to get the point and save Zdenek Zeman's job - for now.

Messina continued their good form, getting a point at league leaders Atalanta, who even had to scramble for that with a goal in injury time. Amazingly, Messina, who was languishing in last place a few weeks back, is now up to 13th.

Palermo moves into third with a solid away win. Consistent Livorno keeps plugging away and is now in 4th after beating lowly Como despite being down to 9 men. Catania thumps Piacenza to take 5th while Cagliari is now down to 6th.

What would've been a passionate encounter among former giants of Italian football was played with no fans as Napoli and Torino entertained the substitutes and officials with their 2-2 - Napoli's 8th draw in 11 games this season. Torino drops to a disappointing 7th place while Napoli keeps their noses out of the relegation zone.

Bari and Fiorentina settle for 0-0.

PROMOTION ZONE:
Atalanta, Ternana, Palermo, Livorno, Catania

PLAYOFF ZONE:
Cagliari/Torino (tied)

RELEGATION ZONE:
Bari, Venezia, Como, Avellino

SCORING LEADERS
Spinesi (Bari) 8 (1 pen)
Ferrante (Torino) 8 (2)
Oliveira (Catania) 8 (3)
Moscardelli (Triestina) 7
Budan (Atalanta) 6
Esposito (Cagliari) 6
Lucarelli (Livorno) 6
Rigano' (Fiorentina) 5
Myrtaj (Verona) 5 (2)
Protti (Livorno) 5 (2)
Corini (Palermo) 5 (5)