More Tears For Relegated Sampdoria
It was 1992, Wembley Stadium, the European Cup final between Sampdoria and Barcelona. I remember seeing Gianluca Vialli sent through with only Zubizaretta to beat and he lobbed the goalkeeper but put it wide. Then in extra time, Ronald Koeman ended all my hopes and dreams as he smashed a free kick past Gianluca Pagliuca to hand Barcelona the trophy.
Fast forward to Sunday May 16, 2010. After 18 long years of waiting, Sampdoria defeated Napoli 1-0 to finish 4th and qualify for the Champions League. After 18 long years, my club would be returning to Europe’s Holy Grail of Football. No words could describe the feeling I felt that day, after so many years of mediocrity, my club was amongst the big boys of Italy and Europe!
Going into the offseason there were a lot of question marks. Beppe Marrotta our clubs Sporting Director, and our Mister Luigi Del Neri were being rumoured to be heading to Juventus. The rumours ended up being true and the two men who played a big part in our team’s success were no longer there. After several rumours were laid to rest, the club hired Sergio Gasparin as the new director of football and hired Domenico Di Carlo as our new manager. Gasparin was formerly of Udinese, and seriously anyone responsible for being in charge of personnel at Udinese is welcome at my club. They have a history of finding some of the world’s best talent. Di Carlo was a young coach who had done well with a mediocre Chievo side. To be honest, I was a little skeptical, we had a very important season upon us and with us heading into Europe I felt we needed a more experienced coach.
The squad for the most part remained intact. One area of concern was in goal. Last season we started with Luca Castelazzi and to be honest I felt that he was one of the top GK in Italy up until his injury. He made so many key saves for us which got us valuable points. Games against Inter and Udinese spring to mind. With Castelazzi now injured, Marco Storari entered the frame and he more than made up for the injured Castelazzi, so much so that once healthy Castelazzi could not reclaim his place. In the offseason we lost both to Juventus and Inter respectively. So Sampdoria brought in Gianluca Curci who had been relegated with Siena the season before. A young goalkeeper who after so much promise, was unable to break into the Roma squad. Would a young goalkeeper be able to handle the pressure of playing for a top 4 side and competing in Europe?? Would he be able to organize a defense that does not have household names but as a unit functioned well??
As for the rest of the squad, after renewing a few loan deals for players like Guberti and Zauri the only real acquisition made to the squad was Massimo Volta from Cesena. Heading into Europe I felt the squad was weak and under manned but when you posses one of the top strike forces in Europe in Cassano and Pazzini I was confident that we would qualify for the Group Stages of the CL and have a decent season in Serie A…with a top 10 finish seemingly realistic. Finishing in the top 4 again would be tough and a lot would be placed on the shoulders of Cassano and Pazzini.
The draw for the CL qualifier was harsh. Drawing a tough Bremen side would not be easy for us. After the 3-1 first leg defeat, I was skeptical. Going back to the Marassi I had a feeling that the tie was over, but that late Pazzini goal in Germany had me clinging to a small degree of hope.
The Second Leg proved to be the deciding factor for what the season was going to be all about. After Pazzini scored 2 goals, one an absolute cracker and Cassano made it 3-0 I thought we were through. I thought we had done enough to turn the tie and return to the CL for the first time in 18 long years. Then
in the 92nd minute….my dream ended. Samp gave up a very late goal which tied up the aggregate score and eventually we would lose to an extra time goal. Samp were dumped out of Europe which more than likely ruled out moves for any new personnel….but we still had Pazzini and Cassano so I thought we would be safe.
As the season started to unfold I started to notice a common trend. We kept giving up late goals which lead to us drop valuable points. Early season games to Napoli and late season games to Genoa. Di Carlo wasn’t playing Poli which concerned me. He was injured to start the season, but once healthy played second fiddle to Fernando Tissone whom I don’t think much of. Although a revelation last season, he couldn’t get a game this season…even when he played well. Hmmmmm
As the season progressed, Sergio Gasparin was relieved of his duties which left the club with no sporting director which would prove vital as the season unfolded.
Then the event that truly defined our season. Garrone had a bust up with the temperamental Antonio Cassano. Cassano refused to go to some hotel event and when Garrone confronted him, he called him a vecchio pezzo di merda. That was it, all Garrone had to hear and he banished Cassano from the squad and placed him on the transfer list. I truly believe that Garrone overreacted and when push came to shove his ego got in the way and he couldn’t turn back. Cassano had a clause on his contract that if his deal with Samp was broken, then Samp had to pay Real Madrid 5mill as compensation. So Garrone set up a deal in which Cassano would move to Milan for nothing and all three parties would split the 5 mill owed to Madrid. So essentially we paid 1 million to rid ourselves of our best player. Shortly after that we sold Pazzini to Inter for 12.5 million. So in the blink of an eye we were out of Europe and we disposed ourselves of our 2 best players. With that we sold Guido Marilungo to Atalanta for 5 mill, a player I rated highly. We now were only left with 1 striker in Nicola Pozzi who was injured too.
Garrone did not do much to reinvest in the team…he didn’t leave himself with much time either. He brings in Palermo reject Maccarone, Utd. loane Macheda and Biabiany from Inter in the Pazzini deal. As this proved later, it was not enough, as Samp went goalless in 17 of 25 games and boasted the 2nd worst attack in Serie A. On top of that Di Carlo was fired and replaced with Cavassin…a man who had limited Serie A experience and was a mediocre Serie B coach. Like his original appointment, a coach that I didn’t place much faith in.
Down the stretch Samp were battling relegation with Bari, Brescia, Lecce, Cesena, Parma and Catania. Samp played each of these teams at the tail end of the season. With a possible 18 points available Samp claimed 4, and had the heartbreaking loss in the derby, Samp’s story had an unhappy ending. So after having one of the most memorable season in the clubs history…Samp are reply by having one of the worst seasons in the club’s history.
No words can describe what I feel…the fans don’t deserve this. This season had so much promise and has ended in the worst way possible….and at the end of the day there is only one person to blame, Garrone took a stand, and it has come back to bite him. Now I only hope that I don’t have to wait another 18 years to see my club get back to European glory. A long season in Serie B awaits….
