Success and the Silly Season

By: Jeremy | May 24th, 2008

For any fan of a small club, this has to be the most frustrating part of the calendar year other then when you are sweating those weeks or months of uncertainty as to whether or not your club will avoid relegation. For a Cagliari fan like myself, after pulling off the miracle of survival, just as we can take a deep breath and start to look forward to next year, the rumors start to fly. Some are valid, some are not, but they all remind you that if you have a successful team or a successful players, if you are a small club you will lose them and must basically rebuild your team with new players, some who will pan out, and some who wont. Once that is done, the January transfer window allows you a second bite at the apple. Cagliari is the prime example of how this process can help you, but also can hurt you if you make bad decisions on players because unlike the big clubs, you cannot hide your mistakes in player acquisitions.

So the questions will start. Who is staying and who is going? After the miracle of survival, the first question becomes the status of the gaffer. Ballardini solidified this team and brought them back from the brink of relegation to safety. For these efforts, and combined with Cagliaris coaching carousel history, you would think him returning is a no brainer. Well Ballardini can return if he wants, but when you are successful, you are in demand. He has made it clear is not automatic to return to Cagliari. He wants to coach Napoli and is waiting for things to shake out before he comes back to Cagliari. Look for him to look at every option now that he has shown success. He will return to Cagliari only if there are no better offers.

The next concern is Storari. I am still amazed at the lack of recognition he received for what he did in Cagliari. You see so much news about how Milan, who owns him, needs a goalie and they think they can get Frey from Fiorentina. Frey isnt leaving Fiorentina for a non Champions League side. Storari also got no call up for EURO 2008. He should be Buffons back up. There has also been no discussion of him retuning to Cagliari where he is now a legend. Ultimately Milan will bring him back to take over their nets and Storari is waiting for the call. Milan will get the best goalie in Italy outside of Buffon and will save money to spend on defensive talent. This loss is what will hurt us most. Hey atleast we will own Matri outright.

Of course everyone wants to know what is happening with Acquafresca. You would think it would be a no brainer for him to return for one more year in Sardinia before a transfer back to Inter or another big club. Acquafresca has made it clear he wants more first team football and wants a bigger club. Inter is not going to bring him back yet, but they would like to gain full ownership of him and loan him out for one more year. I think Robert goes back and forth on where he wants to be. He knows he wants a bigger club, but also knows he is not ready fot that stage quite yet. Cagliari is the perfect place for him, but things are never that easy. He will get all the first team football he wants next year if he stays, will play at a familiar place now that he has adapted, and will loved by the fans, all while being able to develop his talent. Hopefully managment uses their card of half ownership to get him back but Inter has assets and the right offer of players and money will get them full ownership of our new hero. How does Adriano look in a uniform with Tiscali across the front? Dont rule it out. Adriano in Sardinia would be great for him to get back to top level Italian football, but I still prefer babyface Acquafresca.

Nothing new on Foggia. We still own half of him and he wants out. I would like to keep him, but Lazio is going to take him back and he will be playing for them next year. What we get in return I dont know.

The other tranfer target is young dman Canini. Milan wants him and we would be foolish to let him go, but money talks and the big clubs get what they want so dont assume he will be back next year.

So who will be replacing all these players we lose? We get leftovers or will take a risk on a potential high flyer from South America who just isnt getting noticed by the bigger clubs. Who will be this years Larrivey? I dont know,but if we let our good players go again this year and bring in new players who dont measure up or young players that wont start performing until relegation is staring you directly in the eye, it will make for another tough year. At some point the breaks will not go your way and you will get relegated. This is a pattern Cagliari must break away from as we need to move up in the standings, not get new players who will hopefully allow us to survive.

I will try not to read too much into these rumors and disappointments that hit the small clubs like us early in the summer. We have such a good foundation of players that I would hate to lose them all and not get much in return. We may end up with Suazo and Esposito back in Sardinia when all this shakes out, but as much as I love those guys I want to look forward and not backward.

I do have faith in management to keep the assets we have and bring in some new guys because after the magic of the january transfer window and the job done to survive, I need to give them the benefit of the doubt for what they will do this summer. It does not look good early, but there is still time to get things in order and build on the success of the second half of last year.

Ill always be a Cagliari fan no matter what, but lets hopefully see some positive rumors instead of the negative ones floating around so soon after such a great ending to the year.