2008-09 Review

By: Jeremy | June 7th, 2009

After the past few seasons of barely surviving to play the next year in Serie A, Cagliari suprised us all and finished ninth this year with 53 points. 15 wins, 15 losses, and 8 draws. With results like that, it would seem like we had a boring season where we were not threatened with relegation yet were also not quite good enough to challenge for Europe. For those who followed the team throughout the whole season, this season was anything but boring and we faced many highs and lows that cancelled each other out and we finished where the overall play suggested we should have.

What went right:

Any team that was expected to be relegated or atleast be in the fight for relegation, to finish 9th and eliminate their relegation worries very early in the season meant many things went right.

With iffy changes in the offseason, including the loss of a popular goalie and coach who worked miracles to help keep the team in Serie A last year, to think their replacements would end up doing a better job and probably being the two biggest pieces in the team would be a shocker for sure.

The new coach Allegri, after a slow start, held his composure and brought the team back from a bad start to a great run and a surprising finish. What cannot be ignored was Cellinos patience not to fire him after the bad start and his patience was rewarded as he now has one of the top up and coming coaches in Serie A who has been courted for Milan and Lazio amongst others.

Marchetti, Storaris young replacement, provided immediate stability and leadership at the back and is now on the radar of many big clubs. He is the next big time goalie in Italy. Great scouting to bring him in from Serie B as a basic unknown.

Other surprises included the continued improvement of Jeda and especially Biondini in the midfield. Acquafresca getting to stay in Cagliari for the full year was also huge as he provided some big goals and his potential brought much needed attention to Cagliari.

Conte and Fini continued to provide great play in a quiet way which allowed the youngsters to improve. Cossu in the midfield greatly improved his play and Parola and Canini are also great young players in the back. The youth of Cagliari is enough to get any fan excited even if we lose Acquafresca.

A team that exceeds expectations has many of their guys on the wishlists of the bigger teams so while we dont like to lose players/coaches, the fact they are mentioned so much meant it was a good year.

What went wrong:

Any team that does not win until week seven shows their season was not as good as it could have been. No Serie A team, changes or not, should start that way and Allegri was probably closer to the ax then he will ever admit and deservedly so. While all teams face ups and downs, we basically needed a miracle run of games to keep the season alive. A run of ten games in the mid year saw the team gain way more points then they could have expected and with about 8 weeks left, the team had a real shot at Europe. Wins against Fiorentina, Juventus, Palermo, and a draw at Inter turned things around quickly. The inconsistency can be expected, but the bad start and the bad finish really had to frustrate fans as this team had the talent and potential to make Europe. The team should have finished stronger and gave away 5-8 points in the end.

The future:

As with all small teams, it is a year to year thing. Surivival is the key for now but the great season can often cause some good players to give us a look in the transfer market and we might move up to stabilize a mid table reputation rather then this just being a one year thing.

Acquafresca leaving is just the first step of many difficulties we will likely face. Allegri is not guaranteed to return as the latest big club after him is Lazio. The right offer will cause him to go and if we get one more season of him, we will be lucky. Marchetti is now looked at as the heir to Buffon in the national team so his returning is also 50/50. Cossu and Canini will get some looks as will Jeda.

These are all players that must be kept if we are to build on this seasons results. As with past seasons, we lost too many notable players and the replacements were not highly touted yet they all seemed to fit and or play better then expected. That cant continue to happen so we must do a better job of keeping key players. New players will also now look at Cagliari so this may be a more active offseason then expected. If Allegri stays, the chances of team improvement are even better.

With the stadium improvements, sponsorship issues, and fans now getting a taste of a good team, there is much pressure on Cellino to keep what he has and build upon it. The base is there to atleast keep us in the top half, but because of the nature of Serie A, a couple bad moves in the offseason will put us back in the relegation dogfight. For now, we can reflect on this year, how enjoyable it was, ponder the what ifs, and most importantly wonder what a new year brings. There will be some changes but for the first time since Zola helped get us back to Serie A, there is real optimism in Sardinia after a great year.