retired_xs2khizar

- Ragusa 2002/2003 - Player recaps -

ATTACKERS

Carmelo Bonarrigo, 27, Forward
(apps 4(5) - AvR 6.44)
While I accept that Carmelo has not had a decent run in the side and was usually played out of position in midfield, I do not think that he has the ability to be considered worthwhile. Whenever he has been on the pitch he has been quiet and made no impact whatsoever.

Marco Cirillo, 26, Striker
(apps 31(4) - Goals 1 - Assists 6 - MotM 1 - AvR 7.37)
Marco was a revelation in midfield, putting in some high quality performances and chipping in with his fair share of assists. I don’t think he’s too delighted with being used out of position, but he has put aside any feelings of discontent when on the pitch in favour of getting his head down and working hard for the team, and deserves a lot of credit for it. His reward comes in the shape of a regular first team slot and a third place in the division’s Player of the Year award.

Giancarlo Ferrara, 28, Striker
(apps 28(7) - Goals 17 - Assists 7 - MotM 5 - AvR 7.48)
It is obvious that losing Giancarlo is a huge blow to the club. Not only will our top scorer and best striker walk out on us this summer, but he will do it on a free transfer. The £50,000 that we almost sold him for in January would have come in very useful, but after that fell through we have no choice but to wave him on his way to Monza. With his style of playing on the shoulder of defenders alongside his good all around ability and eye for goal, he will no doubt continue to bang in the goals for his new club.

Claudio Gallicchio, 25, Striker
(apps 29(4) - Goals 11 - Assists 5 - AvR 6.81)
Claudio has managed the not inconsiderable task of remaining a complete mystery to me for the entire season. Sometimes he looks a handful, occasionally lethal, and other times he is quiet and spurns chances by the hatful. He is strong and determined, I just hope that he can find some consistency to his play and become more ruthless in front of goal – we will need it next season if he becomes our main striker.

Vittorio Emanuele Lupo, 28, Striker
(apps 2(14) - Goals 3 - Assists 3 - AvR 6.81)
Vittorio looks likely to get more first team action next season. He has sometimes shown glimpses of ability this season, and, although I remain unconvinced, I still hope that he will be able to raise his game to the task.

retired_xs2khizar

Tuesday 17th June 2003

Although the team have not been involved in any action for a month, myself and scout Enrico Calabrese have not been sat around twiddling our thumbs. Being his usual enthusiastic self Enrico has been here there and everywhere, and we have both been tapping our networks as we look to build up what has become an even smaller squad than last season.

One of my contacts in England threw up the name Stuart Attewell, a young central defender who has been in the youth team at West Bromwich Albion. When Stuart turned 17 years old in April the club decided not to sign him on to full professional terms and he became a free agent. He's not the quickest and could tighten up his marking, but he is a strong brave lad with good aerial ability and good positional sense. In truth it is a bit of a gamble, but after the success of Stephen Cooke's visit and the desperate need for central defenders here then I think we should take it. I will be going back to England to meet with Stuart and his parents to see if he can be tempted into resuming his career abroad.

retired_xs2khizar

Sunday 29th June 2003

I spent some time today with Giuseppe Antoci at the Chairman's villa higher up the valley. He is very pleased with the performance of the club under my management and continues to give me his full support. As for expectations for the coming season, he assures me that he would be just as happy with further survival in the division to cement our reputation as a Serie C club, rather than pressure me for a promotion fight. Anything better than relegation will suit him for now.

The conversation turned to financial matters, a sombre topic in Italian football at the moment. Although we have secured a brand new sponsorship deal with a local company that will be worth £45,000 for the next 5 years, there is no chance of the club becoming profitable any time soon and I think we both accept that the prospect of joining many other clubs in receivership sometime in the near future is not an unlikely possibility. However, Giuseppe is as aware as I am that the tiny squad needs strengthening after 5 players departed this summer, so he is standing by his promise that £35,000 will remain available for transfers. I promised to try and spend as little as possible.


Tuesday 1st July 2003

Stuart Attewell arrived this week as a Ragusa player, my first ever permanent signing for the club. He was excited about the opportunity to live and play abroad after the disappointment at West Brom, but I think the deal clincher was getting him to talk with Stephen Cooke about his experiences over here. I know that Stephen enjoyed his time in Ragusa and obviously had good things to tell him; whatever he said seemed to make up Stuart's mind and he has decided to join us.


A local magazine has named Giancarlo Ferrara as their Ragusa player of the year, in a poll voted on by fans of the club. Giancarlo grabbed their attention with his second straight season as top scorer, after playing a big part in helping the club get promoted from Serie D the previous year and then scoring some crucial goals last season. Clearly they are slightly more forgiving about his imminent depature to Monza than I am.


Vicenza and Lucchese are the latest clubs to be caught in the financial crisis, both bringing in the receivers.


Thursday 10th July 2003

The scouting work done over the last few weeks is beginning to pay off, as I welcome a certain individual to Ragusa this morning to show him the around. This time it is no unknown 17 year old, but a Uruguayan who was capped 28 times by his country and has Serie A experience... none other than Daniel Fonseca. The talented forward enjoyed several successful years at Napoli and Roma before fading out at Juventus, and is quite a catch for an obscure little club like Ragusa.

Daniel is 33 now and has spent the last couple of years playing low level football in both Italy and his home country. He seems fairly happy about the prospect of joining a small club with a regular first team place, immediately took a liking to the old town, and all in all it looks likely that he will sign a contract early next week.

And that's not all, as I have also been granted permission by Reggina to discuss the possibility of Pietro Alderuccio joining us when his contract runs out in September. Reggina placed him on the transfer list during his rehab, but even though he is now fully fit they have still not had any interest from other clubs and they cannot interfere if Pietro decides to join us.


With Stephen Cooke no longer around we will also need to strengthen the midfield. Igea Virtus were relegated this season, along with a previous transfer target of ours called Fabio Caserta. The 24 year old can play anywhere across the midfield, is good in the air and can use the ball well - we place a small offer of £4,000.

retired_xs2khizar

Saturday 12th July 2003

Yesterday I hopped over to southern Italy to speak to Pietro Alderuccio. We were able to agree terms fairly easily as he was not keen to sit around at Reggina any more, a club that had not shown much interest in helping him through a difficult long term injury. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to have him for pre-season, his contract means that he will not be able to join us until September 16th, by which time we will already be 3 matches into the new league season. That can't be helped though, and I know it will be worth the wait - Pietro is only 21, is strong in the tackle and is capable of man marking. It was a blow to have to cancel his loan last season after the accident, but now that he has made a full recovery we should benefit from his return.


Today I have been speaking to a third centre back and another big name player - Des Walker. The 38 year old former Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and England defender also spent time in Italian football with Sampdoria, and is interested in finding a coaching role either in his home country or over here in Italy. I think that Des would be the ideal mentor for young Stuart Attewell as he would benefit hugely from Walker's experience (along with his translating), and I would be more than happy to have him on the coaching staff concurrently.


Progress on a possible Fabio Caserta deal is interrupted when a certain Serie D club called Ravenna weigh in with an offer worth £20,000 for the midfielder. It is significantly more than I was hoping to have to spend, but we really need to bolster the midfield and reluctantly decide to match it.


Wednesday 16th July 2003

Fonseca returned this week with a signed contract and he is now officially a Ragusa player. We will get to see him in action for the first time when we go on a pre-season tour to Portugal on the first of the month.


In a repeat of the Nazzareno Scopelliti incident almost exactly a year ago, Fabio Caserta has snubbed us to join Ravenna in Serie D. What are Ravenna tempting players with, their Chairman's teenage daughter? After they beat us to Scopelliti last year, then went back on their word in the cancelled Ferrara deal and now take Caserta too, it's safe to say that Ravenna are not my favourite team...

With a second blow we are also rejected by Des Walker, who instead chooses Serie C1/A side Atletico Catania rather than us, Oxford or Shrewsbury.


Sunday 27th July 2003

Today is the day that Giancarlo Ferrara's contract officially expires and he is legally allowed to go to join up with Monza, as was arranged back at the start of February. There's also a second departure when physio Gioacchino Giudice leaves to become head physio at a club called Fano. We receive £4,000 in compensation and we still have old Salvatore, so we should be okay for now.

On Wednesday the entire 17-man squad will be flying out to Portugal for our 2 week pre-season tour. We have friendlies arranged with Louletano on the 1st, Clube Desportivo Nacional da Madeira on the 6th, and their rivals Clube Futebol Uniao Madeira on the 11th.

retired_xs2khizar

Tuesday 12th August 2003

The Portuguese tour was refreshing and enjoyable off the pitch, but not very successful on it. After losing to Louletano on the south coast, Nacional da Madeira ran rings round our tired players and banged six past us on the Wednesday. The meeting with their local opposition Uniao went a little better in comparison but we still came away with three defeats from three.

Stuart Attewell put in a promising showing on the tour despite being very out of shape, and Fonseca bagged a goal even with the lack of supply in his direction. The results may have been poor, but the important thing was the fitness and I can already tell that it has done the squad a world of good for their pre-season preparations.


The tour wasn't all relaxing round a hotel, training and playing friendlies though, as Enrico had still been hard at work in my absence. On his recommendation we have placed a bid of £9,000 for Sangiovannese's midfielder Franco Chiavarini, a 23 year old Argentinian. He is very quick and possesses a right foot that could open a tin of beans, and although he is primarily a winger his mobility and passing ability should serve him well if we need him to tuck infield. Barring any spanners in the works he should be signed and registered in time for the start of the Serie C Cup on Friday.

retired_xs2khizar

- Serie C Cup - Group O preview -

Group O is compiled entirely of teams that competed in Serie C2/C last season, a constant only broken by Brindisi's subsequent promotion to Serie C1/B. Therefore each team should be well aware of their opponents this time around.

Teams (sorted alphabetically):
Brindisi - Serie C1/B
Gladiator - Serie C2/C
Palmese - Serie C2/C
Ragusa - Serie C2/C
Tivoli - Serie C2/C

Brindisi were the runaway winners of Serie C2/C last season, leading for much of the campaign and wrapping the title up with three matches remaining. This success alone must surely make them favourites to qualify from this group.

Gladiator struggled through their 2002/2003 season, spending the vast majority of it at the opposite end of the table. They narrowly avoided the drop into Serie D after having to fight for their lives in the relegation playoffs, and consequently they are not expected to make much of an impact on this group.

Palmese looked like a strong outfit for much of last season and were desperately unlucky not to join Brindisi in Serie C1, only losing the promotion playoff final in the very last minute of the season to Fidelis Andria. They contain the kind of attacking power that could help them do well in a small group stage.

Ragusa had a mixed season, starting poorly and finishing poorly to bookend a hot streak that made them the form team in the division for a good period of time. For a club that had come up from Serie D spending no money it can be considered a successful season, but with the more potent likes of Brindisi and Palmese in the group it is not easy to see them making qualification. The one thing Ragusa can take heart from is that in their 8 total meetings with these other teams last season, they only suffered a single defeat.

Tivoli also enjoyed a very successful league campaign last season, climbing to second in the table but again being knocked out by Fidelis Andria in the promotion playoffs. They stand as good a chance as any in what could prove to be a tight group.

Shermanez

Still looking good nerf, all the best with the new season

retired_xs2khizar

Cheers Gino


Friday 15th August 2003

Tivoli, a club based near the city of Rome, are our first opponents in this season's Serie C cup. Last season Tivoli managed a very respectable 2nd position in the league, although we were able to take 4 points from our two meetings with them.

Intending to make a cautious start after our unstable pre-season form, we will adopt the 4-5-1 formation and play for the draw. There are full debuts for all three signings, and, at 17 years and 4 months old, Stuart Attewell becomes the youngest ever player to appear for Ragusa, beating Giuseppe Lenea's record last year by around 4 months or so.

Serie C Cup Group O
Tivoli v Ragusa

Ragusa lineup - Lenea; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Italia, Guastella; Fonseca, Cirillo, Caramel, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Gallicchio.

Our cautious start is blown out of the water as early as the 15th minute, as our inability to defend set pieces exposes us once again. Dario Italia is beaten in the air by the near post and a glancing header gives Tivoli a 1-0 lead that they hold through to half-time.

With the players in the changing room at half-time I give instructions to switch to 4-3-1-2. Daniel Fonseca moves up front to join Gallicchio in attack, and Chiavarini tucks infield to make the midfield three.

10 minutes after the break, Franco Chiavarini clips a good ball inside to Gallicchio, who turns and finds Fonseca breaking in behind the home defence. Looking suspiciously offside but with the flag staying down, the Uruguayan takes the ball on and curls a left foot shot high around goalkeeper Andrea Casta. It's the equaliser and his first official goal for the club.

In the 61st minute Dario Italia's long free-kick from defence is won well in the air by Vladimiro Caramel, and the ball dropps for Claudio Gallicchio left surprisingly wide open in the Tivoli area. Claudio keeps his cool, gets the ball under control, and finishes emphatically as the goalkeeper rushes out to block him. 2-1.

In the 70th minute we complete a terrific 15 minute spell with a third. Stuart Attewell's defensive header is collected by Stefano Guastella, who spots Fonseca's diagonal run and launches a long ball over the Tivoli back line. Fonseca is left with a similar 1v1 chance as he had earlier, and the result is the same.

Final score: Tivoli 1 - 3 Ragusa


A great result at Tivoli. After a worrying start we were an entirely different side in the second half and Tivoli just couldn't handle us. Franco Chiavarini made a pleasing start in his first game, and the usual suspects Pellegrino and Caramel put in a typically good display. Fonseca bagging 2 goals was a bonus, I hope it is a sign of things to come.

retired_xs2khizar

Tuesday 19th August 2003

Our first visitors to the Aldo Campo Selvaggio are the familiar faces of Gladiator, a team we met three times last season including a victory over them in the previous Serie C cup. In our league meetings we managed a 2-2 draw and a 3-0 win, so our record against them makes good reading.

After the second half success at Tivoli we will start with 4-3-1-2. Simone Tamburro picked up a calf strain in training this week that will sideline him for the best part of a month, so Sabellini will have to do his best to fill in on the left with no natural replacement. In Simone's absence, I hand the captain's armband to the reliable Gaspare Pellegrino for the first time.

Serie C Cup Group O
Ragusa v Gladiator

Ragusa lineup - Lenea; Sabellini, Attewell, Italia, Guastella; Cirillo, Pellegrino(c), Chiavarini; Caramel; Fonseca, Gallicchio.

Less than 10 minutes in, Caramel's deceptive aerial ability wins another unlikely header and Fonseca squeezes a shot in on goal. Di Muro parries the ball to keep the effort out, but Claudio Gallicchio is alive to pounce and stick home the rebound. 1-0, and only an excellent save from Vincenzo Di Muro stops Claudio making it two later in the half.

Before half-time there's another opportunity for that second goal. A corner is cleared by the Gladiator defence and Attewell nods the ball back in to Pellegrino near the edge of the area. The deputising captain winds up for a long range shot, but fools everybody in the stadium by faking the shot and instead slipping the ball back into the box, where Franco Chiavarini had ghosted into acres of space. The Argentinian controls and shapes up for the shot, and although the goalkeeper gets a hand on it it still finds the net for his first Ragusa goal.

The second half is played out comfortably, with Gladiator coming gradually back into it but unable to seriously threaten. Fonseca is rested to give Lupo a run out for the last 25 minutes.

Final score: Raguse 2 - 0 Gladiator


It is shame that only 1904 people turned up at the ground to watch, as they would have seen their slightly new-look Ragusa team put in a dominating first half performance; If we can keep that sort of form going then we shouldn't do too badly. Just like last season we have started the group with two wins from two satisfying performances.

retired_xs2khizar

Thursday 21st August 2003

There's a double blow in training this week as two players fall foul of bad luck. Stefano Guastella has sprained his ankle badly and will be out for 3 weeks, whilst Franco Chiavarini's good start to his Ragusa career is interrupted by strained knee ligaments that will take at least a fortnight to heal. Our squad is already tiny enough without these injuries and it is only making a tough group more difficult.


Saturday 23rd August 2003

Serie C2/C champions Brindisi began their cup campaign with a surprising loss to Gladiator but recovered sufficiently to beat Palmese in their second fixture. Last season Brindisi inflicted our heaviest defeat on us by winning 5-3 at their ground, but we gained some revenge by beating them 2-0 here in Ragusa later on in the season.

With Tamburro, Guastella and Chiavarini all restricted to Salvatore's treatment table, Alessandro Bonaffini will again be asked to fill in at full back with Manolo Manoni the beneficiary of the gap in midfield. As Brindisi run out onto the pitch for kick-off, I'm surprised to notice a certain former Ravenna player Nazzareno Scopelliti amongst their number.

Serie C Cup Group O
Ragusa v Brindisi

Ragusa lineup - Lenea; Bonaffini, Attewell, Italia, Sabellini; Cirillo, Pellegrino(c), Manoni; Caramel; Fonseca, Gallicchio.

If the last match had got off to a good start, this time we went one better by taking the lead inside 5 minutes. Fonseca's delightfully curling corner was met by the flying Gaspare Pellegrino, who came steaming towards goal to climb and force home a header from 6 yards.

Brindisi tried to get back into the match but we held the lead through to the half-time break, when Lupo replaced the uninvolved Gallicchio. On 61 minutes Pellegrino picks the ball up deep in mifield and is put under pressure, so he decides to play a long but seemingly innocuous pass back to Giuseppe Lenea... for whatever reason, there's a lack of communication and the ball bounces over the young keeper's foot and rolls tragically into the net. The own goal is credited to the mortified captain Gaspare, who has the dubious privilege of a goal at both ends.

Brindisi gain confidence from their fluke equaliser and the game is pretty even for the remainder, but with Attewell looking strong at the back we keep them at bay.

Final score: Ragusa 1 - 1 Brindisi


Sunday 24th August 2003

With the growing list of injuries, 51 year old physio Guido Ferraris arrives from Valenzana in exchange for £6,000 compensation. I hadn't intended to bring a second physio in but Salvatore clearly has his work cut out at the moment, so hopefully having Guido will relieve his workload and enable the players to make quicker recoveries.