JANUARY
Lineup - Ahamada, Fiamozzi, Tonelli (Viti), Luperto, Marchizza, Ricci, Stulac (Viviani), Collado (Mancuso), Vignato, Conceicao,
Cutrone*
After 3 games without a goal I had meant to play Eddie Salcedo up front but I forgot so Patrick Cutrone kept his place and fired in a superb hat-trick to win us the match.
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Lineup -
Ahamada*, Fiamozzi, Tonelli, Luperto, Marchizza, Ricci, Stulac (Haas), Collado, Salcedo (Bajrami), Conceicao (Gomez), Cutrone
This is a really good point as we played the last 15min with 10 men and we actually dominated that spell. Conceicao and Cutrone got injured and both will be out for around about a month just as we head into our toughest run of fixtures.
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Coppa Italia 1st Round
Lineup - Ahamada, Fiamozzi, Tonelli,
Luperto*, Parisi, Ricci (Viviani), Stulac (Haas), Collado (Cataldo), Bajrami (Crociata), Gomez, Salcedo
A 1-0 victory over Sassuolo in the cup might not seem like a big result but this is right up with the Man City game. We were missing 6 players including my 4 first choice attacking players and even one of the backups so to come through with the win is very pleasing. Cataldo is a 16y/o player who came through last seasons youth intake so it was nice to see him make his debut and he becomes the clubs youngest ever player.
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Lineup -
Ahamada*, Fiamozzi (Adjapong), Tonelli, Caldara (Viti), Marchizza (Parisi), Ricci, Stulac, Collado, Bajrami, Vignato, Salcedo
Forget about what I said about the last match. This trumps it by 100!!!!!! We were still missing several players so when we fell behind early on it wasnt a surprise however Tonelli levelled and then we battered them for 10min. Despite that we still fell behind but it didnt dampen our spirits as we carried on dominating and were back in front before half-time.
We got a penalty in the 2nd half which Collado tucked away and even then we kept on attacking and going forward. We were terrific!!!!!
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Coppa Italia Quarter-Final
Lineup - Ahamada, Fiamozzi (Adjapong), Tonelli, Caldara, Marchizza, Ricci (Haas), Stulac, Collado, Bajrami, Vignato (Gomez), Salcedo
We were all out of miracles. We were awful as Inter dominated from start to finish and tbh they could have scored 5 or 6. Disappointed but not unexpected.
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Lineup - Ahamada, Fiamozzi, Tonelli, Viti, Marchizza, Ricci (Viviani), Stulac (Haas), Collado (Mancuso),
Bajrami*, Vignato, Salcedo
We put our cup defeat behind us to win here. Vignato and Bajrami struck the goals and we always looked comfortable even when they pulled a goal back.
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Lineup - Ahamada, Adjapong (Fiamozzi), Tonelli, Viti, Marchizza, Ricci, Stulac (Haas), Collado (Mancuso), Bajrami, Vignato, Salcedo
Roma do the double over us as we lose here but my players are shattered and we have so many injuries so I am not that surprised. Inter Milan up next so it could be a similar outcome.
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Lineup - Ahamada, Fiamozzi (Adjapong), Tonelli, Viti, Parisi, Viviani, Haas, Collado, Bajrami, Vignato (Mancuso), Salcedo (Cutrone)
If you look at my lineup you will see how depleted my squad is so to come away with a 2-1 defeat despite being 2nd best for 90min is actually quite an achievement. We were terrible and they should have scored 6 or 7 but we kept it respectable.
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SUMMARY
We started this month pretty well but towards the end we began to struggle as injuries began to mount up and with the sheer amount of games being played my players fitness levels began to drop. The highlight of the month was our terrific 4-2 away victory over Juventus where my depleted side put on a storming performance to beat the league leaders. Unfortunately we lost our last 2 league fixtures which sees us lie in 5th place in the table which is acceptable.
In the Coppa Italia we beat Sassuolo but were chucked out by Inter Milan.
As for the transfer window I sold Edoardo Goldaniga to Salernitana for £1.5m and that was my only exit. Incoming in his place is Mattia Caldara from AC Milan for £2.8m. He is a decent centre half and will push Tonelli and Luperto for a first team spot.
Then on transfer deadline day I brought in 2 players. Burak Ince was the first one and he joins us for £1m. The 18y/o attacking midfielder is a decent prospect and hopefully we can develop him into a top player and at the very least sell him on for a sizable profit.
Then incoming on loan was Roberto Gagliardini from Spurs. I felt that we were lacking a bit of quality in central midfield and he will certainly bring that. We can buy him for £21m but that isnt likely to happen!
Finally I was offered the chance to become the manager of AC Milan. I accepted the interview but not the job when it was offered to me.
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALI AHAMADA
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SERIE A