La Leggenda Italiana - A Father & Son Tale

Paolo:
May, which began with much promise turned out to be an infuriating month as we stuttered our way across the finish line, with two games to play we were second, two points behind the leaders Pescara, requiring just one more win to secure our place in next seasons Serie A, however we blew it and wound up finishing sixth, meaning we will have to contend with the play-off's if we are to win promotion.


Here's our performance throughout the campaign;

Things started so well, we went ten games unbeaten from the opening day through to mid October, however our form didn't last, inconsistency began to creep in, all in all I suppose sixth place was a reasonable finish for my first season with the club, plenty to build upon for next season even if we are unsuccessful in the play-off's.

Striker Daniele Corvina is unquestionably our player of the season, his twentyfive goals make him the top scorer in the division, here's hoping he can add a few more to his account in the play off's!


I admit I'm not feeling too optimistic ahead of play-off's, the system is that six teams take part, the teams finishing 3rd and 4th revive a bye to the semi final, playing the winners of the two quarter finals, we play Varese in the single legged QF which will be at home for us, with Carpi awaiting the winning side. It's worth noting we lost to both of these sides during May.


In other news, I nearly secured my dream job this month but unfortunately missed out as Milan chose the vastly more experienced Marco Van Basten to take charge following the sacking of his fellow Dutchman Clarence Seedorf. Van Basten returns t the San Siro after spending seven years with Milan as a player in the late 80's and early 90's.

I'm not too upset, I still want the job but I realise I have to prove myself as a manager first, I've had a reasonable first season with Brescia, however there is a long way to go before I will be on par with the likes of Marco Van Basten when it comes to that job.


Christian:
Two starts and one substitute outing for Christian this month, he picked up man of the match against Spezia which was great however he was at fault for Carpi's winner in that game which may have stunted his confidence somewhat. All in all though he should be reasonably happy with his first season as a professional, he's put in some solid defensive work and looks to be progressing nicely, his market value has more than doubled since his debut. The question now is will he be here next season? I would love to have him back for a second loan spell if Milan will allow it.

The play-off quarter-final with Varese was a disaster;

Two stupid own goals gifted Varese a place in the semi-final, we finally came to life after the third but it was too little too late as our dreams of Serie A faded with every woefully taken chance we squandered as we looked to give ourselves a way back into the tie.
I guess now it's time to begin preparing for next year, although I think priority number one should be to improve the clubs deepening financial troubles;

Paolo:
I've had an extremely busy summer break, my first and foremost priority was to balance the books before the clubs financial situation became uncontrollable. I have managed to do so, at least for the time being after releasing some ageing high earners and being forced to sell some of our prospects, which of course I don't like doing but long term stability should always take priority;

Supporters will be especially disapointed to see their long serving favourites Michele Arcari and Andrea Caracciolo departing, creative Brazilian Rueben Olivera will also be missed but his wage demands were unsustainable so he had to go, he has now signed for Greek side Ast Tripolis.

We are now back in black, a further £1.3M should be in our bank account in the next few days after I agreed the sale of another of our youth players to Geona. Of course all these departing players needed replacing but obviously I didn't want to simpley swap old expensive players for new equally expensive players, so I have made liberal use of the loan market;

Ignore Simone Bennendetti; He broke his ankle just days after I confirmed the deal with Inter, ruling him out for several months, so I cut my losses and terminated the loan.

Signed on loan from Fiorentina, He will rotate with my son Christian (who's loan I have extended) who I'm hoping will step up and establish himself as our first choise right back with the departure of Marco Zambelli this summer.

Could be an important player at the back, I will be looking for him to form a partnership with Darryl Lachman at the heart of defence.

Another defender, Mattia will likely be my first choice left back with Croatian Tonci Kucoc as backup.

I'm not sure which of Pietro and my other keeper, 20 year old Alesio Cragno will succeed the departed Michele Arcari as number one, both are evenly matched, however the Catania man's extra experience will probably give him the edge, at least to begin with.

Backup for last years goldern boot winner Daniele Corvia as my lone striker. not much else to say about him really.

I think we have an exciting prospect on our hands here, Sampdoria want him to gain first team experience here, which I'm only too happy to allow, he should fit nicely into my 4-2-3-1.

Signed to add depth to my attacking options.

So now you've seen all the new boys, here's a overview of the squad as a whole;

Lots of potential in what is now a very youthful looking side, I have promoted several youngsters from the U19's and reserves as well as all the loan additions, Nana Wellbeck, Fabio Bertoli, Badara Seck and Paul Asare are all exciting prospects who can expect game time this season.

Pre-season wasn't particuarly encouraging results-wise, however I was more concerned with making money from these matches then anything;


Onto the first set of real results then, we have bugun the season in reasonable form, three wins from four games is a ratio that will keep me happy if we maintain it!

We have already matched last seasons performance in the Copa Italia by reaching the final qualifying round, hopefully we can surpass it now. As for the league I'm aiming to at least equal last seasons sixth place finish, although I acknowledge it may be difficult with some of my best player sold or released this summer.

Christian:
Has started his second season with us in fine form, starting all four games, a man of the match award against Avalino was a proud moment for us both.

Paolo:
Our start to the season continues to be somewhat indifferent, we have played some good football and secured some impressive results, however we have also had a share of dreary shite as well;

To be fair to my players, the only truely bad performance was the thumping we took against Latina who we had been expected to beat comfortably, perhaps the fact I had to make four or five changes beforehand played a part. Being pegged back to a draw in the following game with Grosseto was almost as infuriating though as we threw away a two goal lead in the second half.
Daniele Corvia continues to be outstanding for us, he's made a good start to his defence of the golden boot award with his six strikes thus far, his continuing form is crucial if we are to match or better last season.

I managed to bring in another player before the transfer window slammed shut, this time not on loan but a permanent player who I can include in my longer term plans;

Federico joined us as a free agent after being released by Catania in the summer, he spent last season on loan at Padova so he is no stranger to Serie B.

Christian:
Christian continues to shine with regular starts, the only game he has missed this season was the 5-1 spanking from Latina. My coaching staff are currently focusing on his passing as that side of his game currently lets him down. defensively though he is showing signs of one day becoming a very dependable full back, just like his old man!

I've had to re-do several games after the battery on my laptop ran out before I had saved, these games included the final match from September;

As you can see we turned a draw into a win with the re-do so it worked out for the best really. Annoying to have to do it in the first place mind. I'll post up the other results when I do my next update either tonight or tomorrow.

In other news I may be about to take my dream job;

Van Basten clearly isn't having much luck turning around Milan's fortunes after taking over from Clarence Seedorf near the end of last season. Could I do better? I want the chance to find out!

Paolo:
An unbeaten month has seen us climb the league, we now sit four points off of the top of Serie B and playing some pretty nice football currently. Even more pleasing is that several of the young guys I have promoted from the youth team have given a good account of themselves and shown what they can do, Senegalese striker Alioune Badara Seck followed up on his first senior goal against Grosseto with another against AlbinoLeffe, 18 year old Fabio Bertoli shone in his first ever start against Novara and Christian netted the second goal of his fledling career.

Our style has improved too, our passing is second to none in Serie B;

Away from home I allow a more direct and fast paced counter attacking style, at home however I tell my players to take their time on the ball and stroke it around, make the opposition work to get it back and tiring them out in the process. This approach has generally been effective as we are as yet undefeated at the Stadio Mario Rigamonti.

On a personal level, I recived a job offer this month;

Nurnburg is a decent offer but there is only one job in the world right now who I would consider leaving Brecia before the end of my contract for;

I have thrown my name into the running, all I can do now is hope. I'm not sure I have done enough to prove myself as a manager yet to justify my selection for such a high profile job, however my standing amongst the Rossoneri supporters might give me an advantage.



Christian:
Continues to be an ever present at right back, as I mentioned he has another goal to his name, as well as having taken his first team appearance tally up to 26 now as his attributes steadily increase. If I do get the Milan job I will have to leave him behind for the rest of the season, but I am interested to see how much he will improve with their training facility's and potential world class mentors around him.

Hope you get it this time!

AC Milan have this morning confirmed that club legend Paolo Maldini will take over from Marco Van Basten as head coach of the seven time European champions.
Van Basten was dismissed last week after failing to breath new life into the Rossoneri who have endured a spell of hardship by their own lofty standards after missing out on a European berth last season with a disappointing seventh place finish under Van Basten's predecessor Clarence Seedorf and thus far failing to live up to expectations this season also, the 18 time Italian champions are mired in mid table beneath the likes of Bologna and Sassuolo.

Maldini, who lifted 26 trophies in 24 years with Milan, has spent the last eighteen months earning his stripes as a manager with Serie B side Brescia where he as impressed many by instilling a easy on the eye possession based style on a shoestring budget, giving many of the clubs own academy players a chance in the first team. Despite these plaudits, the pressure will be on the 46 year old to get off to a good start as many believe he is not yet experienced enough in management to make such a step up.

Paolo becomes the second generation of the Maldini family to take charge of the Rossoneri after his father Cesare who had two spells at the San Siro helm in the mid 70's and again briefly in 2001. Cristian Maldini, Paolo's son, is also on the books at Milan, having spent the last eighteen months at Brescia on loan, playing under his father. The 18 year old's loan deal with Brescia runs until the end of the season, it is unclear whether he will become the third generation of Maldini to represent Milan's first team upon his return.

Nice to see you get the Milan job now! And that Christian was scoring goals too