nerf

Thanks very much Blanket Jackson and Dimitrios


Thursday 2nd June 2005

The award is not the only new arrival at Ragusa. Probably dazzled by that gleaming piece of silver, Czech wingback Pavel Grznar has signed on the dotted line today to become our first acquisition of the summer. I have been chasing the 26 year old for about 12 months now, since he parted with Udinese, but until our promotion was confirmed he refused to entertain our approaches. Despite missing an entire season of competitive football he has remained in great shape, being a very fit and determined player. His place in the team will probably be to link up with Simone Tamburro on the left, though who will play left back and who will play left midfield is yet to be decided.

The other player to put pen to paper is Dario Italia, who we have decided to keep on for one more season. Dario will be 35 later this month and has signed in the knowledge that he will be used very sparingly. His wage is one of the lowest at the club, so we can afford to keep him on as extra backup in case of injury, and hopefully avoid the possibility of more farcical scenes like the ones of this season, involving registering the first local youth we could get our hands on because we did not have enough fit players.


Wednesday 15th June 2005

The next player in through the door is Carlo Mignani, an 18 year old attacking midfielder. Unfortunately Paterno also rate him highly, so it took £12,000 up front with the promise of more to come based on appearances, to prise their fingers off the youngster. Despite the price I am delighted that we have managed to capture Carlo, as he is clearly a talented kid with a good future. He also dished out 10 assists this season for Paterno and can play anywhere across the midfield, so he brings us some creativity and flexibility. Carlo will join up with us after Paterno have completed their participation in the promotion playoffs, whatever their result.

Ninjafish

I love this thread, I love books and this is just as good as onhe, a brilliant read every time I get home, thank you nerf.
Oh, keep going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nerf

Thank you very much Ninjafish, comments like that make it more than worthwhile. And I do intend to keep going :cool:


Thursday 23rd June 2005

I set out early on a gloriously bright morning for a short stroll down the road into the centre of town. After popping into a shop for the sports paper, I crossed the street to the Caffè Trieste, ordered breakfast, and sat outside browsing through the newspaper. Apparently Varese, the unlucky losers in the title race, had yesterday completed a 3-0 aggregate victory over Paterno in the promotion playoff final. I'm fairly glad for them that they didn't miss out on promotion, they fully deserved it, and it also means that Carlo can feel even happier that he made the right choice by leaving Paterno!

In the Serie C2/C wrap-up there was also a mention of Ragusa, and a quote from a spokesperson for Ragusa fans, who proclaimed me to be "undoubtedly one of the best managers around". I'm not so sure that's the case, but it is always nice to know that the fans are behind you. They really have been great for me since the day I arrived, giving me their full support despite the fact that I was some unknown Englishman attempting to replace the coach who had guided them to Serie D success. I hope they will still be on my side by the end of our innaugral season in Serie C1.

Over the page there was news that Barcelona had won the Spanish Primera Liga for the first time since 1999. Despite their season still not being over yet, an emphatic 5-0 win over relegated Xerez, featuring a hattrick by Javier Saviola, means that rivals Real Madrid will be too far adrift to catch the Catalan club in the final game.

nerf

Thursday 30th June 2005

Unsurprisingly, the annual Fans Player of the Year poll in the local newspaper has declared Eddy Baggio as the winner of this season's vote.

Meanwhile, I have spent the day back on the training ground with assistant Antonio Rannuci and coaches Leo Pellegrino and Marco Onorati, casting our collective eye over the successful triallists for the new Ragusa youth team. The Serie C1 hosts an organised league for under-20 teams attached to the clubs in the division, which is something that we are very interested in being involved in. As a result, Director of Football Marcello Pitino lifted a finger to set the ball rolling, and I have left it up to Antonio, a former chief scout you remember, to run trials and recruit some youngsters to sign youth contracts.

Marco Anastasi, age 16, Goalkeeper
Gabriele Catania, age 16, Forward
Massimo Costagliola, age 16, Forward
Francesco Di Girolamo, age 17, Goalkeeper
Giancarlo Di Nicola, age 16, Forward
Luca Orlando, age 15, Central Midfielder
Fabio Rossini, age 15, Left Midfielder
Pietro Sannino, age 15, Right Back

Antonio's overall impression is that Gabriele Catania, Massimo Costagliola and Luca Orlando stand out as the ones to keep an eye on, though sadly the rest are likely to struggle depending on how they respond in their development. Marco Onorati remains unimpressed by either goalkeeper, knowing that we already have talent and youth at that position in the senior squad.

nerf

Friday 8th July 2005

It's official. The massive news story that has rocked the entire country has finally reached critical levels, as Italian football governing bodies have declared that all domestic professional football competition is to be suspended indefinitely.

From Serie A down to the lower divisions, all domestic leagues are brought screeching to a halt before the new season has even started. The causes are many, the conspiracies twisted, but chaos reigns. The authorities are taking a stand, the financial crisis has struck new lows, match-fixing allegations abound, and labour strikes have sprung up everywhere. The culmination is the postponement of Italian football for the time being, many predicting until after Christmas, most fearing a cancellation of the 2005/2006 season altogether.

Other professional leagues around Europe and the world will continue as normal, but Italian football is in complete disarray. Come September, Ragusa will not be starting their first season in the Serie C1.

nerf

Monday 11th July 2005

We have talked through the situation in several internal meetings over the weekend between staff and players. The club has no alternative but to carry on functioning almost as normal, on the assumption that there will be a half-season beginning in January, or at the worst, the arrival of a full 2006/2007 season in 12 months time.

Pretty much all of the coaches and players live locally, and many have wives or families with connections in the area, so the majority of the squad will always be around and training will continue 'as normal', albeit on a reduced scale for a while. The players are free to do as they please for the next few months, on the premise that they recognise they are still professional calciatori and will need to maintain their fitness levels to some extent. It is highly likely that many of the players will search for part time work to fill up the hours, although decisions on wages are yet to be officially taken.

As for me, I'm taking advantage of the sudden events to enjoy an extended return home to England, spending a few weeks there with friends and family. Stuart Attewell is doing the same, and I heard Franco Chiavarini and Nicolas Cinalli talking about going back to visit Argentina for a short time.

Daniel Fonseca has already expressed a desire to go into football physiotherapy when his playing career is over, so this seems to be a perfect time to take his courses and study the occupation. At 35 going on 36, I can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, we've already seen Daniel Fonseca play his last game for Ragusa. He refuses to make a decision on his retirement as yet, especially after enjoying the success that he had over the last 10 months or so. The same goes for Dario Italia and Vladimiro Caramel.

The youth players who signed with the new Under-20 squad less than a fortnight ago, well, their introduction to professional football has been put on hold, and after the summer they should be going back into full time education.