The Tuesday Calcio Wrap-Up #16 🇮🇹⚽️: Brescia in trouble, Luciano Spalletti is gone and Pescara's glory
Welcome to this week's wrap-up, where I give my thoughts on all the ups, downs and round and rounds from a weekend of Calcio fun.
Can we have a normal week of Calcio, please? No. We cannot. Another week of incredible Italian football is behind us, and we’ve had some crazy events unfold. Brescia, SPAL and various other clubs have been in trouble financially and face being relegated down to the 5th division. And in more Serie C news, Pescara beat Ternana on penalties to secure their promotion to Serie B. Away from club football, Luciano Spalletti is sacked as the Azzurri manager after a dismal performance against Norway, putting the national team’s World Cup qualification at risk.
114 years of history, gone - Brescia fail to prove required finances
A club that was once home to the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Roberto Baggio, Luca Toni, Pep Guardiola and Sandro Tonali - Brescia is a giant in Italian football. But like a lot of other clubs, horrendous ownership of the club has taken its toll and Brescia are losing their professional status. Failure to comply with the league’s deadlines for wage and tax, proving they had €3m in the bank, the club has dropped out of Serie C. Bankruptcy? No. But their next chapter is unknown. One way to keep their Serie C status is a merger, with FeralpiSalo presenting the most feasible option. This would mean FeralpiSalo adopting the club names, colours, kits, badge and stadium to carry on. However, the core of the club would no longer be Brescia. Without this, they continue under Cellino or return as a Phoenix Club but that means they start again in Eccellenza (the fifth tier of Italian football). The sad thing is is that this was easily avoidable if not for the ignorance and negligence of the current ownership. The amount of money required to save them is pennies in the game’s context, which raises increasing concerns around the financial situation in Italy’s game.
Other clubs affected are SPAL, who are increasingly likely to be kicked out of Serie C and replaced by Inter’s reserves (sigh). Lucchese are gone, too, with Taranto likely to be kicked out next. Ascoli, Rimini and Triestina are all at risk.
To keep up with the news, Chiacchierata Calcistica on Twitter is the best source. They’re wonderful at covering provincial Italian football and are a must-follow for fellow Calcio nerds.
Pescara have done it! They’re going up…
A long, gruelling promotion tournament has now concluded with Pescara emerging victorious. The first leg of the final ended 0-1 to Pescara, and the second 0-1 to Ternana. This meant penalties. Pescara won the shootout 3-1, with a heroic save from goalkeeper Alessandro Plizzari to win it.
With this promotion, that means we have a complete line-up in Serie B next season. Pescara join Avellino, Virtus Entella and Padova in the second division next season.
Serie C is still in upheaval, with clubs being kicked out/dropping out all over the shop. The Serie B play-out is also to be confirmed but with Brescia’s latest news, it’s going to be Sampdoria vs Salernitana. That’s if it happens, of course. There’s a chance Brescia are kicked out and the playout doesn’t happen, saving both teams. Who knows, though?! I’m not even sure the Lega do.
Luciano Spalletti SACKED. Break Glass In Case Of Emergency: Claudio Ranieri…
Safe to say, Luciano Spalletti’s time with Italy has been terrible. After the dismal display at the European Championships, he was given more time to turn it around. And he’s failed to do so. Italy’s World Cup qualification is at risk after their loss against Norway, which would mean a third tournament on the bounce if they were to miss out. Spalletti, though, won’t see that far. It was announced he would leave his role after the Moldova game. For some reason, they’re allowing him a ‘farewell’ game. And for some reason, he’s accepted to see it off. If it were me, I’d have told them I’ll leave now and not after. Gabriele Gravina told Spalletti it was “impossible to continue like this” and the players were asked if they opposed his sacking, to which no one spoke out. His time is most certainly up.
One thing to note, though, is that this round of international fixtures for Italy has been hampered by injuries, leaving the squad a bit thin in quality. Plus, the general quality of the Italian national team is lacking, given their illustrious history, making Spalletti’s job harder. Regardless, it certainly isn’t the worst cohort of players we’ve seen since 2010, and Spalletti is definitely not getting the most out of it.
The rumoured candidates to take over from Spalletti include Stefano Pioli and Claudio Ranieri, a man who had (or was meant to have had) his one last swan song at Roma, moving upstairs into an advisory role. However, it’s unknown whether he will accept it or not as he wants to keep his promise to Roma, too. Can he work it as a joint role? It’s up to the Friedkins. His wife on the other hand, is probably thinking ‘here we go again’. Will Mister Ranieri ever retire and tend to his tomatoes? It doesn’t seem likely…