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Did I ever expect to wind up here? No, silly girl- of course I did not. I, Lorenzo Fabbrini, thought I would live my life as the manager of a small Italian olive grove. The contest was what started it all...
The old saying "Be careful what you wish for..." is very true. Like every other male in the community (and some of the females I am sure) I entered the 'Manager for a Day' contest that San Marino announced. It was a lark and though the community loved the idea- the current manager- Mirko Fabbri- hated it and fought hard against it. When the day arrived that they announced the winner, I really wasn't paying any attention. I had forgotten to even put on the radio and was instead out working in the orchard. It was a bit surprising to suddenly see the caravan of cars arriving at the house. By the time I had made my way there- the television crews had set up their cameras and everyone was yammering at me. I still had no clue what was going on. Finally, Danilo Rossini- the Chairman- made his way to me and told me that I had won the contest. I was astounded, but very excited.
Had I played football? Oh, like most I had played when younger. I had even made my way on to the San Marino reserve side for a couple of seasons. My playing limitations were all too evident though and I had given it up to find a way to make a better living. Yes, the dream still lurked in me- you are correct in that regards- but did I think anything would stir it back up and bring it to life? No, I couldn't have seen it in my wildest thoughts at the time.
After the hoopla of the press coverage died down, Chairman Rossini offered me a ride down to the practice facility. When we arrived there, he wanted to introduce me to Fabbri, and went to get him. The next thing I knew they were having a heated exchange outside of Fabbri's office. It was clear that the Chairman was incensed with Fabbri and that Fabbri was furious at the Chairman. I heard Fabbri tell Chairman Rossini what he thought of both him and his offspring (no I can not repeat the words, this is a family resteraunt). The Chairman then said- and I can remember these words quite clearly, since they changed my life- "Our contest winner could manage this club more effectively than you can- and now that I think about it, I would prefer that he do so. You are fired."
No, I don't think he really had the confidence that I would succeed- do you really think that he would of someone he had plucked from an orchard only an hour before? Still, he wasn't one to back off on his words and he immediately took me to his office and offered me a contract (quite generous I thought then- but it must have been a pittance in his mind) to manage the club for a season. It may have been just his pride that gave me the chance, but I bless God for giving him that pride, and for giving me the opportunity.
Starting with CM 01-02 .68, Italy active and Spain/France running in background. I have always wanted to manage Castel di Sangro (I love the name) and chose it over my favorite San Marino (partly because it would have been harder to make this story work well with San Marino).
I didn't look closely enough to discover that Castel di Sangro is Serie C1B, which is equivalent of C1A- so I started anew with San Marino in C2B after all. I have edited this intro to include the correct names.
The Chairman did have one stipulation when he offered me the contract. He told me I must buy only players with Italian citizenship, because that was one of the issues of dispute with ex-Manager Fabbri. Since we did not have any transfer funding to start with- it just meant letting my scout know that they were only looking for Italian players.
There were many initial doubts about the idea of me managing San Marino. Those intensified after I started transfer listing many veteran players. Even then I had a clear idea of the attacking system I wanted to play and I also had a good idea on the type of players I needed to make it work. To get some of those players we needed to have some transfer funds- the only way to get those was to clear out the roster of the higher value players who weren't going to be good fits. Doing so led many in the press to question my sanity- but we did manage to build up a base of 350K as a transfer fund by selling many players and signing on free many unattached players who showed promise.
A capsule glimpse of the club at the start of 2001 campaign:
Keepers and Backline
Alberto Pomini 20 yr old GK- he would be starting GK, but would split time as needed
Sauro Fabbri 33 yr old GK- backup GK, but I expected to start him a lot to spell Pomini
Alessandro Della Valla 19 yr old DRL- starting leftback with promising future
Antonio Martorella 31 yr old D/DMRL- cover for both fullbacks, but especially for leftback
Paolo Asseta 27 yr old DR- starting rightback
Marco Piccioni 25 yr old DRC- cover at rightback and in the middle
Mattia Salami 19 yr old DR- promising rightback that might see a little senior time
Luca Venturi 22 yr old DC- starting central defender, but if I can find a better one would move back to bench
Emmanuele Fiore 20 yr old D/SC- acquired in part exchange for forward Federico Lauria and moves right into a starting role in our central defense
Rocco Crippa 34 yr old DC- veteran central defender who should still see a lot of playing time
Luca Suprani 21 yr old DRC- cover for both central defense and rightback
***
Midfielders
Simone Viroli 25 yr old MLC- starting leftwing- his passing and crossing should be a big help for us
Mario Lusardi 21 yr old MRL- cover for either wing, but leftfooted- so best on leftside- dual Italian/English citizenship
Tiziano Quarta 22 yr old AML- cover for lefting- dual Belgian/Italian citizenship
Raffael Merzek 20 yr old MC- key player on the club- starting holder midfielder- great tackler and passer and we were fortunate to sign him on free (many clubs wanted him)
Daniele De Battisti 22 yr old DMLC- cover for Merzek, but not anywhere near as talented as him
Antonio Donati 19 yr old AMC- likely our playmaker- good scouting found him on free list- wizard with the ball on his feet
Matteo Olivieri 18 yr old AMC- cover for Donati- also very good with the ball, but lacks some of the good secondary skills that Donati has
Paolo Rossi 17 yr old FRC- more cover for Donati, Olivieri- needs to work on some skills, but looks like a worthwhile member of the squad
Stefano Serafini 22 yr old MRC- another free signing- very promising player according to scouts, but I still have some doubts on how well he will fit in with our attack
Michele Salafrica 21 yr old MRLC- one of the best players on the club when I took over- should be starting somewhere in our midfield
Kevin Centorame 18 yr old AMR- could get some starting time on rightwing- dual Belgian/Italian citizenship- very good at crossing
Stefano Scaricamazza 21 yr old AMR- needs to work on some skills, but good with the ball at present- cover for rightwing
***
Forwards
Gianmarco Agostinelli 20 yr old SC- signed on free after released by Napoli- promising striker who I hope will provide much needed scoring
Enrico Penta 18 yr old SC- purchased from Theine for 24K- appeared to be one of the best young forwards my scouts looked at, so was worth paying the price to purchase him- should be starting forward for us
Alessandro Sanna 21 yr old SC- signed on free because of good scouting reports- should be in forward rotation, but may not be an everyday starter
Davide Luciani 18 yr old SC- signed on free after released by Roma- good prospect from Roma youth program- may well be a starter, but haven't seen enough of him yet to determine that
Alessandro Parla 19 yr old FL- received as part of exchange for midfielder Giuseppe De Feudis- has a scorer's touch, but lacks some of the other skills that would make him a certain starter for us
Pietro Di Giorgio 18 yr old SC- the only one of the original forwards I really liked enough to keep- will see some playing time, but not sure if he can score well enough to help us
The departures that caused the outcries of the fans were many:
Andy Selva (95K to Montecchio Maggiore), Simone Batti (120K to Cesena), Massimo Costantini (60K to TPS), Davide Marchini (80K to Nimes), Luca Leone (30K to Montecchio Maggiore), Andrea Tedeschi (80K to Carrarese), Federico Lauria (55K+Fiore), Fabio Algeri (80K to Lumezzane), Vicenzo Maisto (20K to Siderno), Stefano Costantini (7K to Ladispoli), Marcello Lucio Di Lorenzo (130K to Pavia), Simone Maddoci (28K to Pavia), Giuseppe De Feudis (4K+Parla to Pro Vercelli) and Andrea Ramponi (14K to Verbania). Those sales totalled 800K and gave me room enough to pursue purchasing a few players to help- as well as providing us with a firmer financial base to support the club. Doing that helped boost the Chairman's confidence in me enough that he would not be so quick to pull the trigger if we stumbled right away.
Our draw in the Serie C Cup Group play was unfortunate. There were three Serie C1 sides and a strong Serie C2 side grouped with us and I have to admit I was just hoping for an adequate showing on our part- I counted our chances of advancing as slim due to the fact we were still trying to integrate new players, new staff and a new system. We opened with Serie C1 Lodigiani and I was pleased with our defensive effort- though we could not get much going offensively and we battled them to a scoreless draw. We played extremely well against Mestre as we visited them. We deserved a better fate- but we lost to them 4-3 because Sauro Fabbri had a terrible match in net. It was much less than I expected of the veteran keeper and it left me with some additional worries about how steady he would be. Our fans were really pleased with our strong showing as we came from behind to beat heavily favored Treviso 2-1 at Olimpico. It was a tough battle and a good first win for us. Fabbri and our backline let us down with our last Group match at Padova. We fell behind 2-0 in the first half, but had rallied to even the match at 2-2 when Fabbri went into a coma and let an easy goal slip past him to send us crashing out of the Serie C Cup on the 3-2 loss. I would have liked a better showing in the Cup play, but was much more concerned about readying the club for our Serie C2/B play.
We did add a 3rd keeper- Crescenzo De Vito. We signed the 22 yr old on free and made several other clubs seeking his services unhappy.
September saw us move into Divisional play as we traveled to Mestre and the result was the same as when we went there in Cup play- we lost a close match. This time it was a 2-1 loss as Alberto Pomini played extremely well, but didn't have much support from our backline. Worse than that was the loss for a month of Raffaele Merzek. Fortunately we had just signed 28 yr old DMC Francesco Musumeci on free before the match and he would fill in for Merzek's loss.
Ciro Ferrara also joined us as a free signing to bolster our central defense. Ferrara was a 34 yr old DC with extensive experience that I was hoping would help stabilize our backline. Another young DMC, 17 yr old Pasquale Ambrosio, also signed on free with us then. Two more young defenders also joined us- both of whom I had high hopes for- David Baglioni and Federico Bracci. Both were 22 yr olds that I thought could really help resolve what I saw as a lackluster group of central defenders.
The addition of Ferrara seemed to help and we played well on both ends of the pitch as we won our home opener 4-1 over Sassuolo. Antonio Donati continued to demonstrate that he was a good signing with a first half hat-trick. We also got Enrico Pento's 1st goal at San Marino in the win. I must admit, I was very relieved to both gain the win and to see the club finally starting to understand the attacking system I thought would carry us.
With our new backline additions, I made the decision to transfer list Rocco Crippa. He wasn't happy about losing his starting place and the last thing I needed was an unhappy veteran player agitating against me. Prato purchased him for 22K.
Gianmarco Agostinelli roared back into the lineup after a short stint with injuries. He scored a pair of goals in his first match back to help lead us past Gualdo at Olimpico by a 4-0 score. Enrico Pento and Antonio Donati had the other goals in the impressive win. Following the win, I had to consider awhile before deciding that Watford's 190K offer for Michele Salafrica was too good for us to pass up. He wanted a new contract and I would not discuss it unless he reconsidered his demand for a minimum fee release- so the offer from Watford was timely.
There was a lot more public excitement about the club for the next Sunday. We completed the surprise signing of veteran striker Marco Negri the day before the match- and there were plenty of fans happy with just that. On Sunday we clipped home side Faenza by a 4-1 score. We were helped when their keeper, Alessio Brandi, was redcarded at 35 minutes for tripping Gianmarco Agostinelli in the area. The score when that happened was 1-1 as Enrico Pento had scored for us, but they had equalized. Simone Viroli converted the penalty kick and Agostinelli continued his scoring binge with 2 more goals (including his 5th of the season) as we rolled past them. Negri was dressed for the match, but I wanted him to have more practice time before making his debut with us.
We landed two more players just before our next match. Marco De Santis was a 21 yr old MRLC who was playing on Viterbese's reserve side. He cost 7K to purchase to give us more cover in the midfield in the wake of the Salafrica sale. We also added DRL Mariano De Francesco from Lodigiani for 18K.
The end of the month really excited the fans as we featured Negri for the first time as we hosted Sampbenedettese. Negri showed little rust as he scorched a shot to score in his debut to give us the lead. Gianmarco Agostinelli matched him with a goal to send us ahead 2-0. Viroli missed a penalty kick wide that would have made it 3-0, but we clinched the match late in the 2nd half when their keeper- Stefano Visi- earned a redcard for pulling Negri down in the area. Negri converted the penalty for his 2nd goal of the match and the final goal in our 3-0 win.
By rights we should have lost to Mantova in our next match. They outshot us 17-7 for the match and the only reason we weren't behind by more than the 2-1 halftime margin was that Sauro Fabbri was playing superbly in his first divisional start of the season. We rallied in the second half behind Gianmarco Agostinell's 2nd goal of the match and Antonio Donati's goal to stage a comeback 3-2 win over the home side. The Chairman was very pleased with the effort and the result.
A day after the match, we were short another player. Lodigiani, struggling in C1B, bid the minimum fee release for Stefano Serafini and the midfielder was more than happy to jump to the bigger club (for bigger wages obviously). The 500K we received was welcome, but losing Serafini this early in the season was not something I had planned on.
It was a stirring moment when Marco Negri scored the match winning goal in the waning moments against Brescello. They had been giving us fits the entire match at Olimpico. They took the lead, but we quickly evened the match when Enrico Pento scored before leaving with an ankle injury. The match finally appeared to be ours when Antonio Donati scored at 80 minutes to give us the lead. Brescello roared right back with the equalizer at 84 minutes and it looked like a certain 2-2 draw. Donati's wonderful pass allowed Negri an easy tap in to the net and it was a very celebratory crowd that cheered us off the pitch.
We were raided again in the week after that excellent win. Padova came calling for Simone Viroli and in the end it was my choice to let him go for 475K and promising young 18 yr old FRC Eros Schiavon. With the loss of Viroli, I signed veteran 33 yr old DMRC Giovanni Piacentini on free transfer. Signing him allowed me to shuffle Raffaele Mezerk from holder midfielder if needed and gave us another veteran presence on our young squad.
Marco Negri was hurt for our trip to Rimini, so Schiavon jumped directly into the starting lineup for us. We threw everything and the kitchen sink at Rimini keeper Maurizio Battastini- but despite outshooting them 26-6, we fell 3-1 when Alberto Pomini didn't play that well in our nets. Schiavon was MOM as he proved elusive up front and scored in his debut- but it wasn't enough for us.
What I was worried about seems to be showing up- Sauro Fabbri completely misplayed a 45 yard strike and turned what looked like a win for us into a 3-3 draw with Thiene in the last moments of the match. We played well in the match- getting goals from Marco Negri, Antonio Donati (10th of the season) and Tiziano Quarta (1st goal for us). We kept letting them equalize though as Fabbri had an awful match. The 3-3 draw was tough to take, but we have to find a way to start grinding the other clubs when we have a lead- something we didn't do today.
We also added one more transfer before the early deadline- adding 24 yr old AMRLC Antonio Morello to our midfield. He cost us 80K to purchase from Ascoli.
Sunny Side Up (Country Lad Challenge) 
At least you won't have McGuiness loking over your shoulder offering bad advice!
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