CESENA Calcio ď* BENVENUTA Kozakď 
Cesena Calcio appoints Dutch manager Kozak as their new head of the club playing at Dino Manuzzi
Cesena is the team that moved up after a big Serie C1 playoff âfightâ last season against Lumezzane. The party was big last season, but the truth was next season in Serie B would be a hard one. Two important Cesena players got long bans due some fights on the pitch in the final against Lumezzane last season.
Manolo Pestrin the captain will be banned till 12 October 2004 while best defender Angelo Rea is suspended till even New Year.
Things had to happen after Cesena successor Fabrizio Castori wanted to look if he could move up in the Italian ranks. Cesena known as the Serie B club with the lowest budget had to find a new manager, but there wasnât much money available. So it wasnât a real surprise an unknown manager was appointed. But it was a surprise it became a Dutchman.
The board of directors told the local press the main reason for a Dutchman was the âTotal gallery footballâ played by Barcelona. Our new manager comes from the same school as Barca manager Frank Rijkaard and has a big potential in managing young players. Kozak, who never managed a senior team, was delighted with the chance to join Italian football. The Serie B is not very well known in Holland but I heard good stories about it after I heard Cesena was interested. âA world class player like Cristian Vieri grew up in the Serie B. His brother even still plays there at Ternanaâ.
The managersâ expectations for the coming season
The expectations around the country arenât very high for this season. The club couldnât get enough money to get some bigger names to the club. In the Serie B bets Cesena is placed around the three biggest relegation favourites. Kozak doesnât want to relegate directly after the success season in Serie C last year. âWe have to be creative and we wonât be playing the best soccer in the league. Playing some decent Catenacchio soccer will be the only chance to survive. I will also look to improve the very small squad we have, but there is just 60k available for transfers while we are already above the salary the club can pay. We have to work at our club image and try to make more money through the year. If we can survive this season it would be a great resultâ.
The first results of Kozak
The first thing Kozak did was searching for some new bright players to the club that hadnât a real price. Kozak wondered about the foreigner policy at Cesena where they were only allowed to have 1 foreigner. The problem is that they loaned that one player away. Cheap players from far countries werenât an option this way. So Kozak had to look at Italy and other European countries.
Kozak had talks with many players but most of them moved a bigger club in Serie B or even higher. At the moment he finished up with 3 new players. A 16 year old keeper, a defender and a striker.
The names:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>
Andrea Compagnone comes from Serie C team Orlandini and costed 6k. Compagnone was one of the most talented defenders in Serie C last season and might be a starter this season at Cesena.
<LI>
Fausto Mangili had no current team. He played Serie D last season and was all Cesena could afford to partner with Cesena star striker Bernacci.
<LI>
Lasse Staw is a young Danish keeper. Kozak already got him on trial at his previous youth team. Staw is just 16 years old and hopes to be one of the challengers to become the new Schmeighel. </UL>
The pre-season already kicked off and Cesena got a big loss in their first friendly against their own reserves. 3-1 loss!!!
Then the real games started with the cup draw. Cesena drawn big Serie B teams like Venezia and Empoli. Teams that will play for the prizes this season. Napoli was the third rivals in group 7 of the Italian cup.
Cesena started the cup away at favourites
Empoli. Empoli played with a 3 men attack including former Udinese star Nomvethe. Empoli was the better team in the whole game but a penalty at the other side was converted by star striker Marco Bernacci. Juventus seems to want to land in this attacker as soon as possible but Kozak doesnât wanna sell him at this moment. Empoli didnât get big chances after that Bernacci penalty and the first surprise of the season was there. Signing Conpagnone became âman of the matchâ and Cesena directly got a bid for the player. The offer for him was a laugh for Cesena and we donât wanna call the clubsâ name. But rumours say Juventus is the team that wanted to sign this player for just 10.000 Pound. Juventus was scouting Bernacci this game so it might be really them.
The game after this cup game was a friendly against Serie C team
Cosenza. Cesena played a good game and won 3-0. Marco Bernacci was the big man with two goals.
Then the second game in the Italian cup at home against the former bankrupt team
Napoli. Napoli surprised Venezia in the first cup game so the winner of this game would have been very near the 2nd round for the Italian cup. Napoli, however Serie C these days, pressed Cesena away and were the better team. But a great action by right fullback Ambrogioni gave Cesena again a good lead in the cup. After that Cesena took over the game. With a great shot from a very hard angle new striker Mangili made it 2-0 for the small home team.
The next round is very near now as Venezia â Empoli ended in a draw. With one game to go Cesena has three points more than Napoli so a draw at Venezia will give âsmall Cesenaâ a place in next round. At Cesena people are already hoping for a home game against Juventus in second round. Financially this would be perfect for the club that will do everything to surviveâŚ.
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