Football Season Guide

Coming off relegation from the Serie A, last season Cagliari were expected to be sure protagonists of the second tier of the Italian football but they did not like their life easy. In fact, by the end of December they had actually fallen mid table thus losing whatever hopes of promotion. However, following Fabio Liverani’s sacking, the management hired 71-year-old Claudio Ranieri, who thus returned at the club after a 30-year-absence, and he successfully turned the tide. With Ranieri at the helm, they lost only twice between January and June, thus reaching an incredible promotion via the playoffs. Hoping to keep away from troubles this time around, President Giulini decided to add quality without wasting money, something he had done in their previous seasons in Serie A. Thus, Scuffet, returning to Italian football after seasons in Cyprus and Romania, could become the new number one, with Radunovic, who played only 7 games overall in Serie A, stepping back to the bench. Considering that they held the 3rd best defence of the past Serie B, the back 4 will hardly be touched with Augello, one of the few positive notes from Sampdoria past campaign, the new left-back, and Azzi as back-up with Barreca gone. The midfield, where Makoumbou is a non-entity for the category, was strengthened by Sulemana, who did well at Hellas, while Jankto, who had troubled campaigns at Getafe and Sparta Prague, represents a bit of a gamble. And more players could arrive. It is no surprise that Cagliari are still onthe hunt for a new striker after signing a not-very-prolific Shomurodov. Infact, they are too Lapadula-dependent, he scored 26 goals and served 5 assists last season, and need a valid alternative to him and injury-prone Pavoletti up-front. Depth is still required in most areas.