Parma-Cagliari
By: Jeremy | April 20th, 2012After a postponement of last weekends home/road game with Catania, we hit the road/road to play Parma in an edgy game with many subplots. Both teams are on 38 points, by no means safe, and with a real chance to put the other in a much more stressful position then they are in now.
Parma is now coached by ex Cagliari boss Roberto Donadoni. After being let go last summer by Cagliari, before a game was even played, he was a midseason replacement for Parma who needed something to keep them above the relegation zone. While he has not been an overwhelming success, he has put them in a position to survive which is all anyone can ask. While he liked Cagliari and the players, like many ex Cagliari coaches, he left too early with a sour taste in his mouth and a lot of hate for Cellino. You can bet Donadoni would love to see Cagliari go down.
Other being a little more rested, Cagliari still has the same plots as last week as they will play a game outside Sardinia knowing they need to get 3-4 points in these next 6 games to achieve safety. There is still strife between Cellino and the local government as he tries to angle for a new stadium while severely underestimating the problem of playing your last 8 games outside Sardinia. Despite some talk of Europe, the goal has been safety and Cellinos antics have only made it tougher.
As for the players, Dessena is still missing but he is about it. If Pinilla plays we have a chance and we have done well against Parma at home and on the road in recent years. He should partner Thiago Ribeiro up top but Ficcadenti has yet to show he has learned anything about putting the players in the right spot to create goals. He really has not done a better job then Ballardini but neither coach seems to have the majority of the dressing room on his side. Even if Cagliari survives, expect him to get fired this summer.
Parma has won a couple of nice games against Lazio and Novara to put pressure on teams like Fiorentina and Genoa who saw Parma as the team Lecce might catch. Now they are essentially a home win against Cagliari from safety. Delaying the Palermo game to play Cagliari at home will likely give them some confidence and the odds are probably in their favor for a win. The weak schedule would make relegation a shock for their fans. They are lead by Giovinco who with Lucarreli and Flocarri will have all the players at the top of their game as this is a huge opportunity for them in so many ways.
Logic says this will be an exciting draw as both teams feel like they can win but for different reasons. We are more talented but they are better organized, at home, and seem to be playing lately with the passion we lack. That being said, Pinilla can win this game single handedly with his play so watch him.
With a Saturday evening start locally, we get to put the pressure on our relegation rivals or create added pressure ourselves by losing and then watching Sundays games to see who passes us. There are still a lot of scenarios for many teams as it relates to relegation, but both of these teams will feel this is a golden opportunity to take away most of the stress that comes with trying to stay safe.
Enjoy the game and check us out on Twitter @cagliarioffside and leave some comments about the team or suggestions on how to get Cagliari fans more involved in giving opinions about what needs to be done to get this club moving forward.
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Comments
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Another unwatchable game.
Parma is not a better team than Cagliari but yesterday it looked like Barcellona (Parma) playing a friendly against a lower league sparring partner (us). This ha become agony for a fan. It is difficult to understand what is going home. Is this a physical problem (at this point during the season)? I think it might be a mix of mental focus of the players and bad team management by Ficcadenti, who, as you pointed out, has yet to show to be able to find the right spot for each player, especially up front. Even Pinilla was bad. He did fight much less than usual. Midfield completely incapable of filtering and game construction (except for Ekdal). Playing like this I doubt very much Nainggolan with get all the money Mr. C was hoping for selling him. The defence absolutely unwatchable. Astori did not look his usual self. Very frustrating to watch games like these. Now things get very complicated. Five away games. Cellino, this year, messed up big time and is playing with fire.
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There is a reason we are playing our home games on the road. The Cagliari ultras wanted to pull a similar stunt as was done in Genoa today but not possible if the players are not playing in the Sant Elia. Our stadium has been bad for awhile and did not suddenly worsen so you wonder if Cellino knows something and did not want what was going to happen in Genoa to happen in Cagliari.
Its us or Genoa going down. The ultras may have actually motivated the players today or they it will have the opposite effect, but they could not be playing any worse so this was a good thing they did.
I dont think a single player would care in Cagliari. Big difference. Ballardini never should have been fired and certainly not to bring back Ficcadenti. Cellinos genius/stupid personality is picking the wrong time to go stupid as hes made nothing but bad decisions since he was lucky enough to acquire Pinilla. He should have sold Naiggolan in the winter while he was being overvalued by Juve who feared him going to Milan.
We dont have passionate players and are probably the team whose loyalty from its players as is low as any small club. Dessena, a somewhat caring player, has been hurt so his unavailability is not helping.
The entire club needs to be revamped around Pinilla, Astori, Dessena, and Agazzi. The only other players I would keep are Ariaudo(if he is going to play), along with Ibarbo and Ribeiro only because of their potential. Every other senior player needs to be sold including Cossu and Nainggolan.
If we dont survive, they are all gone.
It is going to be interesting. To me the only winnable game is Catania, if we at home and 41 is an iffy proposition for survival but probably does it,
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Your prediction confirmed. A 3-0 win was much more than I would have expected. The 20 min played by Ibarbo were just amazing. I read the official Cagliari Calcio pages especially the fans’ comments. There is a lot of resentment, but I doubt that it would result in something as the Genoa stunt. Fans are exasperated by Cellino and his decision to play away from home the remaining games. Most feel that the team would benefit from the fan support during the home games. Others, those who paid the season subscription, feel robbed of the promised access to the games. As for the players to keep for next season, Ariaudo is one of the sure ones. He’s the designated sub for Astori, who will sure leave next summer for Milan or Juve. I agree of the fact Pinilla should be bought and maybe buy Ribeiro as well. Ibarbo, I hope will stay with us one more year. If he will acquire consistency he may be the next big deal Cellino does since Suazo. We’ll see what will happen. Luckily we are at least still 3 points away from Lecce at -5 from the end of the season.
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Even better when the figs are off Grandpa Perrone’s fig tree. I sohlud now introduce you to my new cornish hen recipe. Think oranges, nutmeg, fresh ginger .it’s a party in your mouth!
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