Sampdoria's coming back!

good stuff, and they appear ready to splash some cash to stay up...Doni from Atalanta, Chiesa...probably a few others...

 

Panic:

You and I have similar tastes in clubs. Sampdoria is my No. 1 in Italy and West Ham is my No. 1 in England.

Fiorentina is about to be promoted to C1 BTW - this even after Di Livio went down several weeks ago with an injury that ended his season.

 

Congratz to Samp & their fans. Palermo looks to be avoiding the late season slide of last year and won the Sicilian derby today against Messina. They now lie two points (and three clubs) out of the final promotion spot. The last spot could come down to the Lecce - Palermo season ender in three weeks. How long has it been since a Sicilian club played in Serie A?

 

I believe that would be Catania who lasted one season in Serie A in the early 80s (82-83, I think), finishing dead last with 12 points.

 

Intrigued by that question I googled that and found this: (sorry for the off topic issue)


Toshack gets no respect

“SEE NAPLES and die” was John Toshack’s terse comment after resigning as coach of Catania, the Serie B side, last week. The 56-year-old Welshman, who had weathered the slings and arrows of appointments at Real Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña, and Real Sociedad, lasted only ten matches at the Sicilian club. He quit because of public criticism by Riccardo Gaucci, the Catania president, after a 1-0 defeat by Napoli.
“I can’t accept this kind of criticism,” he told reporters. “I’ve been in top teams and no one has ever lacked respect towards me. If he’d spoken to me in the changing-rooms, I would have accepted it. But like that, no.”

Toshack was the third manager of Catania to walk the plank since the beginning of the season. The first, Osvaldo Jaconi, did not make it to the first league game, falling on his sword after Catania’s miserable showing in the midsummer rounds of the Italian Cup. His replacement, Maurizio Pellegrino, lasted ten matches and, like Toshack, departed after a defeat by Napoli.

Toshack, meanwhile, barely had time to clear his locker before the arrival of Edy Reja, his successor. Such sudden departures are common in Italy, where the division of labour between a club president and his coach is a grey area with the potential for all kinds of squabbles and ego clashes.

The looming presence of il presidente is the thing that most distinguishes Italian football clubs from their English counterparts. The president is more than a figurehead or an anonymous suit clutching the purse strings.

Sometimes he is the outright owner of the club and takes a well-publicised interest in its success. He frequently chooses which players to buy, though not always in consultation with his coach. He chats to the press and enjoys far greater fame than chairmen in the English leagues.

The last British coach in Italian football, Roy Hodgson, left Udinese, the Serie A side, last season after falling out with Giampaolo Pozzo, the club president.

Toshack’s resignation elicited little more than a shrug of his president’s shoulders. “Our family is made that way,” Gaucci, whose father, Riccardo, is at the head of Perugia, said. “We put pressure on our trainers.”

 

treat yanagi well

 

Hama just welcome back the Blucerchiati to the elite of football!

 

Blucerchiati Back With The Big Boys


One half of the Luigi Ferrari's Stadium has been celebrating their return to the top flight, whilst the other is contemplating life in the backwaters of Italian soccer as they battle against relegation to Serie C1.

After four long seasons in the wilderness, Sampdoria are back. The Genoa based club gained promotion to Serie A after a 3-1 win over Cagliari, with Francesco Flachi and Fabio Bazzani scoring the all-important goals.

This once great side dominated Italian soccer in the early 1990s. With a squad that included Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Mancini and Attilio Lomardo and distinguished coaches Sven-Goran Eriksson and Vujadin Boskov, the team won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1990 and the Scudetto in 1991. A year later they were beaten in the European Cup final, when Ronald Koeman's extra-time free kick gave Barcelona victory.

Those days under the guidance of owner Paolo Mantovani are still considered to be the club' golden age. However, his unexpected death in 1993 precipitated the decline of the Blucerchiati, which culminated in their relegation to Serie B in 1999.

Sampdoria's coach, Walter Novellino, acknowledged that it had been tough going getting back into the top flight: "There are always going to be tough moments in such a long campaign. This success with Samp is the greatest promotion campaign of my career. We’ve managed to stay at the top of the table for most of the year even though it has not been easy by any means."

The former Milan midfielder has become one of the most sought after coaches, but insisted he will remain at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris: "I'm honoured to be a part of this outfit because it is one that has the ability to achieve some great things in the future," he said.

Meanwhile, President Riccardo Garrone insists that the team can go on to achieve greater glories in the future: "We are already competitive and this team can do very well in the top flight. Serie B is tougher than it looks and there are many interesting young players who can make the difference in any division."

Whilst Samp savour their success, their city neighbours Genoa face the ignominy of dropping down to Serie C1. They currently lie in 18th spot, four points from safety and with just three games to rescue themselves. Also deep in the relegation struggle are Napoli, who are above the relegation zone but face tricky ties against Venezia and Ternana.

However, both Genoa and Napoli - along with six of their fellow strugglers - will be eagerly anticipating the judgement from the Italian Federal courts on Thursday in relation to the match involving Catania and Siena, which was won by the former. Genoa et al allege there were serious irregularities and the 2-0 result should be overturned with 1-1 scoreline awarded instead. If the authorities agree then Catania would lose two points - and as a result would drop them closer to the relegation zone, making Genoa’s bid for safety that much easier.

 

He's what 32? he certainly has (at least) 2 more years

 

Knee problem if Im not mistaken but he played for Lazio this season and bagged a couple of goals!