retired_guneetgill

Great...

retired_hamawandi

Please Please write some more of this. I love these rags to riches tales.

retired_amyslack

Sorry for the delay chaps, trying to get this back on track now.

Season 8

Attack – The Best Form Of Defence

After enjoying a brief holiday Sandy returned to Fano to begin planning his 8th season in charge of the club. He had done plenty of thinking whilst he was away, not least of which concerned his future with the club. The relief he felt at seeing his team come through to win the Serie A title was palpable and he felt that he had at last laid to rest the ghosts that had haunted him for years. Well almost – first there was the small question of the Champions League to be resolved. Winning that trophy had crystallised into his mind as the final achievement that he had to make to truly bring himself peace.

So with that unstated objective in mind he set about reviewing his playing squad. The youngsters had received a new batch of players and according to Peter Beardsley there were a couple of real gems in there. The club’s financial position was very secure and after meeting with Mirco a fairly modest €8M transfer budget was agreed and the wage budget had a tidy increase applied. Over the course of the summer a new training facility had been brought into commission and by Christmas another 5,000 seats would be added to the stadium.

Sandy had also decided that he would dispense with his sweeper system and revert to a back four but that he would use a defensive midfielder to offer some additional protection to the defence. He intended to implement the policy that attack is the best form of defence, feeling that he had enough offensive talent at his disposal for such a strategy to work.

The squad had a very different look about it by early August with a dozen players having been released or sold and both Erik Hagen and Davide Andorno deciding to retire. Sandy had no regrets about releasing Stefano Layeni and Nermin Celikovic but the departure of Cristian Pazzi, Frederico Orlandi and Luca Tomasetti was sad to see as they had all been with him for a long time. He made some effort to retain Luca Ferri, Patrice Luzi, and Santos but in the end their salary demands proved to be too much. Dirk Ochs refused a contract offer, preferring to move to Cagliari instead.

Several new faces did appear however. Brazilian centre back Evandro and promising young keeper Francesco Sammarco both joined on free transfers. Francesco Carbone, a player who could be used as a right or a left fullback, cost €1.8M from Torino. Experienced midfielder Kleber Romero came from Zaragoza for €275K and Paolo Zanetti moved from Middlesbrough for €2M. The vastly experienced Trianos Dellas joined the coaching staff and was also registered as a player as Sandy felt that his 8 seasons at Roma would stand him in good stead. Another experienced defender appeared in the shape of Kewullay Conteh who came on a free from Palermo. Finally young Moroccan defender Zakaria Chahbaoiu came on a season-long loan from Wolfsburg and midfielder Christian Tiffert joined as a free agent.

Fano’s first game of the season did not end happily as they lost the Italian Super Cup final to Milan 4-2. Sandy’s cavalier attacking approach certainly created scoring opportunities but it also left his team exposed defensively. With several fresh faces in the starting eleven and a new formation to come to terms with, the manager refused to be discouraged. A 3-3 draw at home to Sevilla in a warm-up match was more encouraging and with Fano missing a penalty and facing an inspired keeper, the game should have been won. The pre-season continued with a 1-1 draw at home to Ajax, a scoreline that was no reflection of Fano’s dominance of the match. The warm-up matches finished with a visit from Barcelona and an impressive 3-2 win.

At the start of September Sandy found out whom his team would be facing in their Champions League group – Man United, Hearts and Maribor. He was particularly excited to be facing United, one of the biggest clubs in world football.

By the time of the league opener at home to Inter, Sandy had a fair idea of his starting eleven but perhaps more importantly, he felt that there were at least two players challenging for each position which meant that the depth within the squad had been improved by his summer transfer activities. He was also pleased that keeper Allan McGregor seemed quite a lot happier. Peter Beardsley had been spending a fair amount of time with the 28-year-old Scot and Sandy’s assistant had been successful in engendering a much more positive attitude in the player. However, his preparations were disrupted by injuries to defenders Conteh, Dellas and Garry, meaning that he could not send out his first choice selection.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday September 5th 2010
Serie A Game 1
Fano 5 Inter 2
There was no shortage of thrills for a packed Stadio Mancini as we got the season off to a barnstorming start. The shape of the game, and the final result, were indicative of my high-risk (and hopefully high-reward) tactics. By playing with five out-and-out attacking players and having the midfield trio push forward at every opportunity to support the strikers, I am taking a huge gamble but I believe that it will pay off.

Team Selection
McGregor (8, sub 67), Ferri (8), Carbone (7), Evandro (8), Ame (6, sub 67), Tiffert (7), Odair (8), Rosales (9), Romero (9), Alberti (9), Visentin (10*)
Subs – Sammarco (7), Tchangai (7)

Goals
Rosales 5, 85, Visentin 8, Alberti 50, Romero 88


A pumped-up Fano were soon back in action with a midweek match at home to Sampdoria, champions two seasons ago and expected to be challenging again this campaign.

Sandy’s Journal
Wednesday September 8th 2010
Serie A Game 2
Fano 4 Sampdoria 1
The sheer pace of Mauro Rosales looks like it will be an effective weapon this season and his bursts forward from the centre of midfield were hugely effective. After he came off with a slight knock substitute Luca Foldi looked to be equally effective in the same role. In fact we have several speed merchants that could cause some damage but it all depends on their quality of finish at the end of the day.

Team Selection
McGregor (7), Ferri (8), Carbone (8), Evandro (8), Ame (6, sub 83), Tiffert (8), Odair (7), Rosales (10*, sub 83), Romero (7, sub 65), Alberti (7), Visentin (8)
Subs – Zanetti (8), Tchangai (6), Foldi (8)

Goals
Rosales 15, 19, 54, Foldi 89


Sandy’s players had time to recover from two thrilling wins when European Championship qualifiers gave most of them a weekend off and they travelled to Roma hoping to continue with another swashbuckling win.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday September 18th 2010
Serie A Game 3
Roma 2 Fano 1
Despite getting off to a great start with a goal virtually straight from the kickoff we were behind by the middle of the first half and never showed the attacking qualities required to penetrate a watertight Roma defence.

Team Selection
McGregor (6), Conteh (7), Carbone (6), Evandro (6), Tchangai (6), Tiffert (7, sub 85), Odair (7), Rosales (7, sub 85), Romero (8), Alberti (7), Visentin (8, sub 73)
Subs – Machado (6), Foldi (6), Palacios (6)

Goals
Visentin 1


Disappointed by such a subdued display, Sandy tried hard to lift his players for their Champions League debut at home to Hearts. He felt that they needed to make a positive start and set his players the clear target of an opening win. His objective was to get ten points in the group, as that should be sufficient to qualify for the nest phase. Sensing that the back four were all pretty dejected after the defeat at Roma he took the gamble of replacing then en-masse for this game.

Sandy’s Journal
Wednesday September 22nd 2010
Champions League Group H Game 1
Fano 4 Hearts 0
This time we took full advantage of another good start and established a match-winning 3-0 lead by half time. I was delighted to see Matteo Visentin complete his hat trick with a late goal as the lads delivered exactly what I had asked for.

Team Selection
McGregor (7), Ferri (8), Garry (8), Ame (8), Dellas (7), Tiffert (8), Odair (8), Rosales (8, sub 82), Romero (7), Alberti (8), Visentin (10*)
Subs – Foldi (7)

Goals
Visentin 14, 44, 86, Odair 18


A surprising 1-1 draw for Man United at Maribor put Fano at the top of their group and gave the team another boost before the visit to Modena. Newly promoted they were the shock leaders of Serie A having won their first three games and Sandy expected a challenging game. They would be without Christian Tiffert on the right of midfield so Luca Foldi would play there instead.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday September 26th 2010
Serie A Game 4
Modena 2 Fano 5
This was another great hat trick for Visentin in a win that turned out to be more comfortable than I had expected. It was slightly concerning to have conceded twice when we were 4-0 ahead but I had told the players not to sit back and defend the lead and this is what can happen when you keep pushing forward.

Team Selection
McGregor (7), Ferri (8), Garry (7), Ame (8), Dellas (6, sub 65), Foldi (8), Odair (7), Rosales (7, sub 45), Romero (7), Alberti (10), Visentin (10*)
Subs – Tiesse (7), Tchangai (7)

Goals
Visentin 19, 26, 28, Alberti 61, 90

retired_amyslack

Goals Galore

Sandy was delighted with the start that his team had made to the season although he was aware that it was early days and that his high-risk approach to the game could well blow up in his face. Their brand of carefree attacking had certainly got the Italian press talking, with no shortage of praise being handed out for their thrilling style. However, the consensus was that this was not the way to retain their Serie A title. What the papers didn’t know was that Sandy was focussed solely on the Champions League and he was convinced that by going for broke he had a great chance of lifting the trophy. His team was still very much an unknown quantity outside Italy and he was counting on surprising the big boys with his aggressive approach. But before their next group match his team had to deal with the visit of Cagliari. He restored Tiffert back into midfield but made no further changes to his selection.

Sandy’s Journal
Saturday October 2nd 2010
Serie A Game 5
Fano 5 Cagliari 2
If this game is anything to go by then there will be no shortage of goals at the Stadio Mancini this season. Two down inside 40 minutes we came storming back to tie the scores before half time. Ryan Garry’s equaliser was a beauty – he must have hit it from 30 yards out and it fair flew into the net. Rosales went on to score a deserved hat trick and both he and Visentin have 8 goals each thus far.

Team Selection
McGregor (6), Ferri (8), Garry (9), Ame (8), Dellas (7), Tiffert (5, sub 45), Odair (7), Rosales (10*), Romero (9), Alberti (7), Visentin (8)
Subs – Foldi (7)

Goals
Rosales 42, 55, 65, Garry 45, Romero 76


Boosted by another good win, Sandy and his team travelled to Old Trafford with a sense of great anticipation for the forthcoming game.

Sandy’s Journal
Tuesday October 5th 2010
Champions League Group H Game 2
Manchester United 2 Fano 1
We took quite a battering in this game and could have been defeated by a bigger margin. Some of the lads seemed to be rather overwhelmed by the occasion I think and I am sure that they will have learned from the experience. Bizarrely, all three goals were scored by the same player, Sanli Tuncay scoring twice for the home side and also being credited with an own goal.

Team Selection
McGregor (7), Ferri (7), Garry (5, sub 45), Ame (8), Dellas (5, sub 45), Tiffert (7), Odair (8), Rosales (6), Zanetti (7), Alberti (5, sub 32), Visentin (7)
Subs – Machado (7), Tchangai (6), Collacchioni (7)


Still a little deflated after their one-sided defeat, Fano travelled to Bari for their next match in Serie A looking for a good win to improve morale.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday October 10th 2010
Serie A Game 6
Bari 3 Fano 3
Having conceded an early goal we did superbly to battle back and go 3-1 ahead but then some sloppy defending saw us concede two more in the closing stages for a disappointing draw. The highlight of the game was our second goal from Michele Alberti – picking the ball up just inside his own half he went on a dazzling run before finishing with a powerful cross-shot.

Team Selection
McGregor (5), Ferri (6), Garry (7), Ame (7), Dellas (7), Tiffert (7, sub 65), Odair (7, sub 56), Rosales (5, sub 56), Zanetti (7), Alberti (8), Visentin (9)
Subs – Foldi (7), Collacchioni (7), Machado (7)

Goals
Odair 10 (pen), Alberti 28, Visentin 54


After a weekend off because of Euro 2012 qualifiers Fano travelled to Reggina without Mauro Rosales who had suffered a slight knock in training, Luca Foldi taking his place.

Sandy’s Journal
Saturday October 23rd 2010
Serie A Game 7
Reggina 3 Fano 5
If this is any indication of the type of games that I will have to sit through this season then I am not sure that the poor old ticker will take it! We were 2-0 down before we woke up and started to play a little, Foldi scoring the first goal of his treble to take us into the break a goal down. Some further sloppy defending saw us concede a 3rd just after the restart and we looked a beaten team. But Luca had other ideas and he completed his hat trick to square the game. With both Evandro and McGregor looking very uncertain I decided to shore up the back, taking the unusual decision to substitute the keeper. It worked well with Tchangai putting us in front before Visentin netted late on.

Team Selection
McGregor (5, sub 68), Ferri (7), Garry (7), Ame (6), Evandro (5, sub 68), Tiffert (9), Odair (8), Foldi (10*), Romero (8), Alberti (7), Visentin (8)
Subs – Napolitano (7), Tchangai (7)

Goals
Foldi 41, 59, 64, Tchangai 83, Visentin 86


Fano took a step into the unknown when they travelled to Slovenia to face Maribor in their next Champions League group game. Although not too far away in terms of distance, Sandy and his coaching team knew very little about the team but the manager decided that his best option was to try to impose his own attacking play on their hosts and go full out for the win. His one concern was the form and confidence of keeper McGregor so he risked playing 20-year-old Nicola Napolitano, reasoning that he could do no worse than the out of sorts Scotsman.

Sandy’s Journal
Tuesday October 26th 2010
Champions League Group H Game 3
Maribor 0 Fano 3
My decision to concentrate on our own game and not worry too much about the opposition proved to be the correct one as we dominated play from pillar to post. Both of our goalscorers could easily have had hat tricks such were the number of chances we created. Foldi hit the woodwork twice, Alberti once and both were denied repeatedly by the home keeper. But nonetheless it was an excellent result and with Man United comfortably beating Hearts we are in second place in the group.

Team Selection
Napolitano (7), Ferri (7), Garry (7), Ame (6), Evandro (8), Tiffert (8), Odair (9), Foldi (10*), Zanetti (8), Alberti (9), Visentin (8)

Goals
Alberti 33, 67, Foldi 65


With title-chasing Juventus coming to the Stadio Mancini Sandy knew that their next game would be a tough one but he resisted the temptation to shuffle his team, keen to keep a settled lineup whenever possible.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday October 31st 2010
Serie A Game 8
Fano 0 Juventus 1
Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon gave an object lesson in goalkeeping today, demonstrating why he is considered to be one of the best in the world. The 32-year-old has amassed 106 international caps and he pulled off a series of stunning saves to deny our voracious attack. Their winner came when they hit us on the break with two minutes of normal time remaining to consign us to an unjust defeat.

Team Selection
Napolitano (6), Ferri (6), Garry (7), Ame (6), Evandro (7), Tiffert (7), Odair (7), Foldi (7), Zanetti (7), Alberti (7), Visentin (6)


Fano’s second defeat of the season dropped them to 4th place in Serie A but the title race showed every sign of being as competitive as ever with the top three of Roma, Juventus and Milan all tied on 17 points with Fano and Vicenza following on 16.

retired_amyslack

Staying On Track

A visit from mid table Perugia gave Fano an opportunity to recover from their disappointing defeat and Sandy made one change to his lineup, bringing in Romero for Zanetti in the midfield anchor position.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday November 7th 2010
Serie A Game 9
Fano 2 Perugia 1
The problem with our aggressive style of play was quite apparent today – if our attack isn’t on song then we struggle. We started very slowly, conceded a goal midway through the first half and didn’t have our first scoring attempt until nearly 30 minutes of play. But thankfully we did warm up, even having to make some enforced changes, including subbing a sub when Rosales was injured after replacing Foldi. We have Dorian Ame to thank for the winner as our attacking players fired blanks for most of the game.

Team Selection
Napolitano (5), Ferri (7), Garry (7), Ame (9*), Evandro (8), Tiffert (7), Odair (7), Foldi (7, sub 69), Romero (7, sub 69), Alberti (8), Visentin (7)
Subs – Collacchioni (7), Rosales (7, sub 90), Riccio (6)

Goals
Alberti 39, Ame 53


Sandy approached the visit of Maribor in the Champions League with great anticipation – a win would take his team within a point of his 10-point target at the start of the group campaign and out them in a great position to qualify for the next phase.

Sandy’s Journal
Wednesday November 10th 2010
Champions League Group H Game 4
Fano 2 Maribor 0
It was a very frustrating hour watching us huff and puff in front of goal until our opener came from Alberti. After that we visibly relaxed and really should have scored more than just Foldi’s late strike. With Man United beating Hearts in their return game, it looked like the two of us would be the teams to go through.

Team Selection
Napolitano (7), Ferri (7), Garry (7), Ame (7), Evandro (6), Tiffert (8), Odair (7), Foldi (9*), Romero (7, sub 72), Alberti (8), Visentin (8)
Subs – Zanetti (7)

Goals
Alberti 61, Foldi 85


A trip to bottom of the table Genoa presented Sandy’s team with a good opportunity of three points and the manager decided to make some changes to his starting eleven. Francesco Sammarco was given his first start in goal and Leo Collacchioni was selected on the right of midfield with Mauro Rosales restored in the centre.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday November 14th 2010
Serie A Game 10
Genoa 0 Fano 3
Rosales scored his 9th of the season early on after some great work by Visentin before coming off in the second half after he picked up a slight knock. Evandro also had to be replaced but neither player looks like being absent for long. Collacchioni put in a great shift on the right and deserved both his goal and his Man of the Match award, his strike coming at an important time in the match. Substitute Foldi wrapped it up late on with a neat turn and shot to make sure of the win and it’s a close call between him and Rosales for the central midfield berth.

Team Selection
Sammarco (8), Ferri (7), Garry (6), Ame (8), Evandro (5, sub 27), Collacchioni (9*), Odair (7), Rosales (7, sub 74), Romero (8), Alberti (8), Visentin (9)
Subs – Tchangai (8), Foldi (7)

Goals
Rosales 12, Collacchioni 47, Foldi 88


Fano’s win took them back to the top of Serie A on goal difference over Vicenza but just two points separated the top five teams and Sandy anticipated an enthralling title battle unfolding over the remainder of the season. The manager made just once change for the visit of struggling Lazio with Komi Tchangai replacing Evandro in central defence. Their opponents sat in 14th place in the table after a poor start to the season and Sandy hoped that his team would add to the Romans misery with a good result.

Sandy’s Journal
Saturday November 20th 2010
Serie A Game 11
Fano 4 Lazio 0
We were rarely troubled by the visitors and looked solid defensively throughout. An early goal from Matteo Visentin settled us quickly and Ame had another good game in central defence, adding our second from a corner. Odair made the game safe before half time after Eric Djemba-Djemba had been sent off for a professional foul whilst conceding a penalty. The Brazilian had his spot kick saved but followed up to net the rebound. Rosales kept up his goal-a-game scoring ratio late in the game to seal a comprehensive win.

Team Selection
Sammarco (7), Ferri (9), Garry (8), Ame (9*), Tchangai (8), Collacchioni (7, sub 64), Odair (8), Rosales (9), Romero (8), Alberti (8), Visentin (8)
Subs – Foldi (8)

Goals
Visentin 11, Ame 22, Odair 44, Rosales 82


Sandy had to make two enforced changes for the trip to Milan when Ryan Garry and Jose Reis Odair both sustained injuries in training. Francesco Carbone came in at left back and Rodrigo Machado was selected on the left of midfield.

Sandy’s Journal
Saturday November 27th 2010
Serie A Game 12
Milan 2 Fano 0
We were on the back foot from the moment that Andriy Shevchenko opened the scoring inside 5 minutes. We conceded again midway through the half and with out attacking players not really on song we rarely looked like getting back on terms. Some niggling injuries didn’t help our cause but it was a disappointing game to lose as our opponents have now taken over at the top of the table.

Team Selection
Sammarco (7), Ferri (7), Carbone (6), Ame (6, sub 45), Tchangai (7), Collacchioni (7), Machado (7), Rosales (7), Romero (5, sub 45), Alberti (7), Visentin (7, sub 76)
Subs – Chahbaoui (7), Zanetti (7), Riccio (7)


The team needed to bounce back from the disappointment of defeat for their Champions League match at Hearts. Man United had already qualified from the group and anything bar a defeat would ensure that Fano followed suit. A few changes in personnel were required to ensure that his players remained fresh but the manager looked forward to a rare return to Scotland with some confidence.

Sandy’s Journal
Tuesday November 30th 2010
Champions League Group H Game 5
Hearts 0 Fano 6
Three goals in the first half made sure of the win and qualification to the next phase and another three after the break was the icing on the cake. We totally dominated the game and with the chances we created it is no exaggeration to say that we could have got double figures. Man United recorded the same scoreline at home to Maribor and our meeting next month will decide who ends up as group winners.

Team Selection
Sammarco (7), Conteh (9), Ferri (8), Ame (8), Tchangai (8), Palacios (8), Foldi (9), Roslaes (10*, sub 70), Romero (10), Alberti (10, sub 82), Visentin (9)
Subs – Tiesse (7), Riccio (7)

Goals
Rosales 18, 22, 59, Alberti 28, Visentin 70, Romero 82

retired_amyslack

Win Some, Lose Some

Still on a high after their demolition of Hearts, Sandy’s team welcomed the visit of mid-table Como with some eagerness, keen to progress their bid to retain the title.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday December 5th 2010
Serie A Game 13
Fano 3 Como 0
We made heavy weather of the first half and but for some good saves by Sammarco we could easily have been behind at the break. The front two played well with Matteo Visentin looking particularly sharp and he took his two goals very well.

Team Selection
Sammarco (8), Conteh (7, sub 68), Ferri (8), Ame (7), Tchangai (8), Tiffert (7), Foldi (8), Rosales (7, sub 68), Romero (7), Alberti (7), Visentin (10*)
Subs – Collacchioni (7), Tiesse (7)

Goals
Visentin 10, 48, Alberti 80


With the press highlighting the form of 20-year-old striker Visentin Sandy added his voice to the chorus of approval, praising his young goalscorer for his skill and application. In combination with strike partner Michele Alberti, himself only 19, the two made a potent offensive threat and the pair had already notched 25 goals between them. Midweek action in the Italian Cup at home to Genoa offered Sandy the perfect opportunity to give his fringe players a competitive game and he made sweeping changes to his starting eleven for the game.

Sandy’s Journal
Wednesday December 8th 2010
Italian Cup 2nd Round 1st Leg
Fano 6 Genoa 0
The second string performed admirably against relegation threatened Genoa and our comfortable win has guaranteed our progression in the competition. I was particularly impressed by Alex Triesse in the centre of midfield and the way he scored his hat trick.

Team Selection
Napolitano (7), Herrero (8), Magliocchetti (7), Chahbaoui (8), Fernández Pérez (7, sub 67), Palacios (8), Machado (8), Tiesse (10*, sub 67), Zanetti (10), Riccio (8), Visentin (10)
Subs – Tchangai (6), Foldi (7)

Goals
Tiesse 8, 29, 59, Zanetti 36, Visentin 60, Foldi 89


Sandy reverted to his first choice selection for the trip to Parma knowing that with Milan having dropped points the day before his team could move back to the top of the table with a win today.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday December 12th 2010
Serie A Game 14
Parma 3 Fano 2
This was one of those games that I really can’t believe we lost. The winning goal came from a soft penalty, we struck the woodwork twice and Parma keeper Sebastien Frey made some stunning saves. So instead of overtaking Milan to go top we slipped down to 4th, such is the competitive nature of this year’s Serie A. Having scored in the first minute of the game it was frustrating not to have pushed home our advantage and killed the game off.

Team Selection
Sammarco (6), Conteh (7), Ferri (5, sub 84), Ame (7), Tchangai (7), Tiffert (7), Foldi (6, sub 84), Rosales (7, sub 50), Zanetti (8), Alberti (7), Visentin (7)
Subs – Tiesse (8), Chahbaoui (7), Palacios (6)

Goals
Alberti 1, Tiesse 73


Fano’s next match would decide who finished on top of their Champions League group and the manager was keen to get the win, as he wanted his side to prove that they could compete with the best teams in Europe.

Sandy’s Journal
Wednesday December 15th 2010
Champions League Group H Game 6
Fano 3 Manchester United 1
An early penalty got us off to a great start but the visitors equalised midway through the first half. However two excellent goals from Alberti before half time took us into the break with a two-goal cushion and we were able to play out the remainder of the game to get the win that I really wanted.

Team Selection
Sammarco (7), Conteh (9), Ferri (7), Ame (4, sub 53), Tchangai (8), Foldi (8), Odair (7), Roslaes (7), Zanetti (7), Alberti (9*, sub 82), Visentin (7)
Subs – Dellas (7), Riccio (7)

Goals
Visentin 9, Alberti 25, 40


The draw for the 2nd Round of the Champions was relatively kind to Fano as they came out of the hat together with Danish side FC Copenhagen and Sandy was reasonably confident of being able to get a result. But next on the agenda was a visit by Atalanta in the league, the first match to be played at the Stadio Mancini since the newly completed expansion. Still tiny by modern standards the ground now held just under 14,000 souls and Sandy expected a good turnout for the match.

Sandy’s Journal
Sunday December 19th 2010
Serie A Game 15
Fano 0 Atalanta 3
What a poor display to serve up for our fans in the new-look stadium! We had several key players well below par today and I think that I need to shake the team up with a few changes for our next few matches as some of the lads need to buck their ideas up. They must know by now that they can’t just turn up and expect to win – they have to work at it if they want to achieve success.

Team Selection
Sammarco (5), Conteh (7), Ferri (7), Chahbaoui (7), Tchangai (6), Foldi (7), Odair (7), Rosales (6), Zanetti (6), Alberti (7), Visentin (7)


The final game before the short Christmas break involved a trip to Genoa for the second leg of their Italian Cup tie and Sandy once again gave his fringe players a run out.

Sandy’s Journal
Wednesday December 22nd 2010
Italian Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg
Genoa 1 Fano 3 (Fano win 9-1 on aggregate)
Whilst not as impressive as we were in the first leg, the second string were more than good enough to win on the night and complete a very easy victory to take us into the Quarter Finals.

Team Selection
Napolitano (5), Herrero (6), Magliocchetti (7), Chahbaoui (7), Fernández Pérez (6), Palacios (8), Machado (10*), Tiesse (9), Zanetti (7), Riccio (8), Alberti (8)

Goals
Machado 4, Tiesse 37, Alberti 57

retired_bbcarr

Unlocked and upped by request

retired_amyslack

Thanks Simon. I looked at resurrecting this but when I went back to CM03/04 I just couldn’t get back into it. So I’ve put FM06 on holiday mode for a while and I’m taking this in a new direction to see what happens.


Hogmanay Surprise

It was early January and Sandy Banks was sitting behind his desk reading through some scouting reports when his Chairman interrupted him.

“Ciao, Signor Sandy and a Happy New Year”

“Same to you Mirco” said the Scotsman, rising to allow himself to be engulfed in one of his Chairman’s trademark bear hugs. Despite the time that he had spent in Italy, Sandy was still slightly uncomfortable with the tactile approach adopted by most Italian men, but he did his best not to show it.

“So, you are still at thee work then Signor Sandy? You need rest a leetel more, eh. As you say in Britain, all working and no playing makes your boy dull, no?”

“Something like that Mirco. Anyway, what brings you into the stadium when you should be on holiday too?”

“Another one of those telephone calls.”

“Mirco, I’ve already told you – Milano, Torino, Roma, I’m not interested. I’m happy here at Fano.”

“I know that Signor Sandy, but thees call ees not from Milano, Torino or Roma – eet ees from Glasgow.”

Sandy’s heart missed a beat! He honestly hadn’t thought about Glasgow for months, years maybe. He was over all of that, settled in a new country, living a new life, running a new team.

“Glasgow!”

“Si, Glasgow. Eet is a very interesting situation and I theenk that maybe thees time eet is a call that you should return! Here ees thee name and thee number – I’ll see you in my office a leetle later.”

It took Sandy some time to even glance at the slip of paper that Mirco had handed him as his mind was in a spin after his Chairman’s news. When he did look down he almost rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“My, my Mirco” he whispered to himself, “interesting would be quite an understatement.”

retired_amyslack

I Belong To Glasgow

Several hours passed before Sandy walked slowly to Mirco’s office.

“So Signor Sandy, that must have been a very long telephone call?”

“No, not too long, but it did leave me with a lot to think about.”

“Sometimes my friend eet doesn’t do to theenk too much with the ‘ead. Thees time you must theenk with the ‘art, no?”

Sandy looked at Mirco for what felt like an eternity.

“Just how is it that you know me better than I know myself?”

“Signor Sandy, I tell you many years ago that I know football people and that you are a football people. Een your head you have unfeeneshed business at Fano but een your heart you have unfeeneeshed business in Glasgow, that ees clear to me. You have come a long way een the last few years but thee final peece of thee puzzle ees not in Fano – eet ees een Glasgow.”

Both men were silent for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Sandy spoke.

“God Mirco, I’m really going to miss things around here – the staff, the players and the fans. But most of all I’m going to miss you. I don’t know if I can do it without your support.”

“You weel always have my support Signor Sandy, no matter where you are. And you weel always have a leetle beet of my Fano in your ‘art, no?”

This time it was Sandy who reached out and hugged Mirco.

retired_amyslack

Homecoming

Sandy’s return to the city of his birth was greeted with a mixture of incredulity and anger. He had been a hero at Rangers until the spectacular collapse of his team when they were on the brink of making history. That was ten years ago and since that time the club had failed to make any real impression in Europe. Alex McLeish had guided them to the SPL title four times in the previous five seasons. Fierce rivals Celtic had just a single league title to their name during that period and they had finally ran out of patience with manager Gordon Strachan. Neither set of rival supporters could believe their ears when it was announced that former Rangers manager Sandy Banks would be his successor!

Sandy was almost as surprised as the rest of the football establishment by this incredible turn of events. When Mirco had handed him the piece of paper with Brian Quinn’s name on it, it had taken Sandy a few seconds to realise that it was the Celtic Chairman that had called, and not David Murray, the man in charge at Ibrox. His first instinct had been to crumple the paper into a ball and throw it in the bin but for some reason he hadn’t done that. He knew Mirco well enough to realise that he would never have informed Sandy of the call in the first place if he hadn’t felt that his manager should give the situation some thought.

Sandy and Mirco had developed such a deep unspoken bond that the one almost seemed to know what the other was thinking. The jovial Italian certainly seemed to have an uncanny ability to read his managers mind and empathise with his emotional state. So if Mirco said that this was a call that should be returned then Sandy couldn’t just dismiss it out of hand. When he eventually dialled the mobile phone number written on the sheet of paper he was struck by how quickly Mr. Quinn established a rapport. He was clearly familiar with Sandy’s exploits in Italy and was quick to proffer his congratulations on the Serie A title success. The Celtic Chairman was quick to get to the point however.

“I’ve no doubt Sandy that you wouldn’t have been expecting to hear from me but the truth is that I’m short of a manager and I believe that you are one of the best in the business. In short, I want you to take over at Celtic Park. I’ve got great ambitions for this football club and I think that you’re the man that can help me achieve my objectives.”

“And they are?”

“Success in Europe. Sandy, you came close to re-writing the history books by winning the treble with Rangers. I want you to go one step better at Celtic and go all the way.”

“I see. Why did you sack Gordon? I had a quick look on the Internet before I called and you’re top of the table right now with the press scenting blood and putting Alex under pressure.”

“I stuck by Gordon for as long as I could and in the end it was more his decision than mine that he should leave. He felt that the pressure of my expectations, particularly regarding Europe, was too much for him to handle.”

“And you think that I’d handle that any better? You saw what happened when things went pear-shaped at Rangers.”

“And I’ve also seen how you’ve recovered from that. Taking Fano to the top of the tree in Italy is nothing short of miraculous. Now I may flatter myself but to be honest I don’t think that it would take a miracle to turn Celtic into one of the top teams in Europe. We’ve got a fantastic setup here – average crowds of nearly 60,000, a strong coaching team and a core of very promising players. It’s my belief that you have the talent and the drive to deliver my vision and finally put your ghosts to rest.”

It was Quinn’s closing phrase that stuck in Sandy’s mind after he terminated the call. And in the end it was that phrase that was echoing in his head when he finally walked to Mirco’s office to tell his Chairman what the Italian already knew.