So in the first leg of the playoff semi final, we'd go to Salernitana, hoping for a better performance than the 3-0 beating we just took!
It was a better performance, but we still lost the game. However, 1-0 isn't the end of the world and we're still very much in this with home advantage on our side.
We are a different animal at home and have only lost 5 home games under my whole management! We'd need to be at our absolute best to turn this over.
And we were. A solid 2-0 saw us sneak through to the final! Edoardo Vergani picked up his 33rd league goal of the season, before Eric Ocansey rounded the keeper and passed the ball into an open net on 66 minutes to see us through.
In the final, we would face off against a Pisa side that we hadn't beaten this season!
And again, we lose the away leg 1-0 and will have to do the hard work at home to turn this around if we want to play in Serie A next year. It's doable for sure, but that's 3 meetings and 3 defeats against Pisa now so confidence wouldn't be at it's highest!
However...
WE ARE GOING TO SERIE A!!! WHAT A PERFORMANCE!!! We absolutely battered them in the home leg and finish the season with my biggest competitive victory as manager of Pescara! Luigi Cuppone was immense and his hat trick capped an amazing display of attacking football!
With promotion secured, the board announce the budgets for the Summer. I'll have £4.5 million to play with and about £50k added to the wage budget. To be honest, these budgets are minimal compared to what the top clubs are paying for players and what they're paying them in wages! We'll have to be the smartest club in the league in the transfer market if we're to survive next season!
Serie B = 3rd (playoff winners)
Coppa Italia Fanta = 2nd Round (knocked out by Benevento)
Yet again, our strength has been in attack this season with Edoardo Vergani scoring an amazing 34 goals, supported by most of the midfielders also chipping in with a few strikes each. The assists were nicely shared too, with new man Eric Ocansey leading the way, whilst Massimiliano Gatto also got into double figures. The defence wasn't great this year and will need improving next season for sure!
Luigi Cuppone was officially seen as a new arrival after we made his loan deal permanent last Summer and he proved I was absolutely right to bring him here! Eric Ocansey was also a fabulous addition to the attacking line and deserves a special mention but most of the new arrivals did well!
The Best 11...
The Awards...
Edoardo Vergani dominated the golden boot all season in Serie B and wins by 9 goals in the end. It's such a shame I'm losing this kid on a free this Summer.
Meanwhile, there's a manager of the year award for yours truly as my own personal stature in the game grows.
Luca Palmiero and Edoardo Vergani are named in a Team of the Year that is dominated by Sampdoria players.
Luigi Cuppone was also named as the Serie B midfielder of the year!
And the club was named as Serie B club of the year as well!
Over the course of the last season, we have gained an extra 131,000 social media followers which takes us just short of half a million. Meanwhile, we've lost a small amount of core fan base but gained a little in the family section.
The Commercials...
The board are certainly expecting a tough 5 years ahead. The sole aim for 5 whole seasons is simply to attempt to avoid relegation from Serie A!
My first departure of the Summer is that of centre back, Stefan Simic. He only joined us last year and made 26 appearances this season. However, he was pretty mediocre at best, so he had a bit of a cheek coming to me at the end of the season wanting a pay rise of treble his wages. Instead, I chose to move him on to Jablonec for £105k.
Then there was a whole host of released players again. Backup keeper, Daniele Sommariva has left the club, but the more notable departure is Alessandro Crescenzi. The right/left back has played a lot for me and his attrtibutes were so good when I joined the club that I identified him as one of the best players at the club. However, his performances haven't really show him to be that great and now we're a Serie A club and he is approaching 33 years old, it was time to part ways.
Our first signing of the Summer is a loanee who has previously held wonderkid status on other versions of FM.
LOAN SIGNING: PIETRO PELLEGRI
Signed on season long loan from Torino
Torino were relegated last season and Pellegri is way too good for Serie B. However, Torino don't quite want to let go of him on a permanent deal just yet, so a loan move to us was in the interest of all parties. Pellegri was tipped for big things as a youngster, but hasn't really reached his full potential yet. Hopefully, he can realise his best football with us and score the goals that will keep us in the top flight.
Meanwhile, our own star striker from last year completed his free transfer to RB Leipzig. Vergani has been amazing for me and I'm sorry to see him go.
With Alessandro Crescenzi being released from the club this Summer, it left a void at left back. That void has now been filled.
NEW SIGNING: MARKO PAJAC
Signed from Genoa
Fee: Free Transfer
The 31 year old Croatian is a significant step up on Crescenzi and joins us as his contract with Genoa comes to an end.
Then there was a bolster to the central midfield positions with the addition of another Italian player.
NEW SIGNING: JACOPO PETRICCIONE
Signed from Crotone
Fee: Free Transfer
Crotone were promoted from Serie C last year and Petriccione was a big part of that success. However, he is too good for Serie B and deserves to step up to the top flight and I was happy to give him that chance. This deal was agreed back in January on a pre contract.
Then there was my first addition of a player I'd actually paid some money for.
NEW SIGNING: JUAN DAVID CABAL
Signed from Hellas Verona
Fee: £2.1 million
I desperately need to add centre backs to the team this Summer and Cabal is the first to arrive. The 23 year old Colombian is a steal for just over £2 million and will improve with him being only 23. He already has 38 appearances in Serie A for Verona as well, so brings with him some solid experience.
Next in was a young right back on loan from Arsenal.
LOAN SIGNING: REUELL WALTERS
Signed on season long loan from Arsenal
The 19 year old is likely to become my first choice at right back this season as he looks to make an impact at the highest level and prove to The Gunners that he can make it.
The defence for the year is completed with the signing of two more centre backs. I had to get the board to authorise the signing of the second one as it took me over my transfer budget, but thankfully they agreed to fund the deal for me.
NEW SIGNING: JOAO BASSO
Signed from Fulham
Fee: £975k
Basso is easily the best centre back I've ever had at the club! Not only does he bring some great attributes, but look at the bottom corner and see my scouts couldn't really find any negatives with him at all (apart from the fact he has not international experience which doesn't bother me in the slightest).
NEW SIGNING: CARLOS DOMINGUEZ
Signed from Celta Vigo
Fee: £950k
I do like a left footed centre back to play on the left side of my back two and Dominguez fits the bill perfectly. Another strong addition at the back and I look forward to seeing the Spaniard in action.
There was another departure from the club. Gennaro Borrelli has struggled in the lower leagues and nothing about him has shown me that he could score goals in Serie A, so it was time to go. He joins Charleroi for £900k.
Now for some backroom staff additions. I have a new assistant manager in the form of Nenad Sakic and Kolo Toure has joined the coaching team as well.
As we continue to build the football club, the board have agreed to improve the training facilities and the youth recruitment too. We're heading in the right direction.
I still only had one goalkeeper in the first team squad. Something that needed rectifying.
NEW SIGNING: PAOLO BASTIANELLO
Signed on a free transfer
I wanted an Italian and I needed someone who would be happy to play backup and be on relatively cheap wages. Bastianello doesn't exactly set the world alight with his attributes but he ticks all the boxes.
Lorenzo Milani is well off the required standard for this team now and becomes the latest player to leave the club. He joins Famalicao for a fee of £95k.
Although we have only lost once in pre season (and that is understandable as it was Valencia), I feel like this has been our worst bunch of friendlies under my management so far. For some reason, things just don't feel totally right just yet as we go into the new season.
We would have the first round of the Coppa Italia to contend as a bit of a warm up before the league started though. We'd drawn Serie B side, Cremonese, and should be winning.
We did, but we needed extra time! We were totally dominant but it's rather worrying that out of their 4 shots, they managed to score 3 goals!
As far as the league goes, we would have one of the toughest possible opening fixtures as we'd take on 2022/23 champions, Napoli, who were 3rd favourites to be champions again this season. It's no surprise to see the bookies place us at the bottom of the table and based on their odds, we are miles off the rest.
We were beaten, but we weren't embarrassed and if we play as well as this against some of the weaker teams this season, we should be picking up points.
Serie A football has at least brought with it 7000 extra season ticket holders.
My number 1 keeper, Alessandro Plizzari, has been edging for a move away from the club now for nearly a year and he finally got his wish. I couldn't keep an unhappy player here to play as my number 1 between the sticks any longer and he joins Atalanta for £2.5 million, although I am gutted to lose him!
Our next league game saw us go away in Serie A for the first time and we were outclassed by Sassuolo. Never really in the game!
Transfer deadline day arrived and one thing we needed was a replacement goalkeeper following the departure of Plizzari.
NEW SIGNING: TOM KRETZSCHMAR
Signed from 1860 Munchen
Fee: £975k
We turned to the 25 year old German 'instinctive goalkeeper' who will immediately slot in as my new number 1 between the sticks. We're going to need a big season from the new man this year as we fight to stay in the division.
And with the window now closed, it's fair to say we might need a minor miracle to stay up this year. 18 of the other 19 teams in Serie A are spending more than double what we spend on wages per week, with 14 of those sides spending treble or more!
One thing we might need is a much more defensive focused formation. The supporters have been on at me for a while now to play more direct football, whilst the board and fans want us to play defensive and counter attacking football. I have therefore created the below to suit our current crop of players, which ticks all the boxes!
It was the international break so we had a couple of weeks to train the new setup, before our game with Udinese.
And we were incredibly unlucky not to pick up our first point of the season. We matched them in every department and definitely created the better chances throughout the game. However, an 89th minute free kick from Nicolo Fagioli robbed the points from us!
The good showing against Udinese definitely had me feeling confident as we went in to our next game against Genoa though.
But that confidence was completely misplaced as we were well beaten and frankly outplayed!
Roma away next...going to the capital is always going to be one of the toughest away days in Italian football.
And it proved to be tough...tough for me, tough for the players and especially tough for the fans who had to watch that dribble! We were well and truly thrashed and simply didn't live up to the occasion in the slightest.
So five games into the season and we remain the only team without a single point. So far, we've been well beaten in most games and there's already big questions being asked as to whether we belong here! The Roma thrashing really hurt and we will have to try hard to pick ourselves up from that!
After a thrashing from Roma, the last place you want to visit is AC Milan in your next game. But that was the predicament we found ourselves in.
And it's back to back 5-0 defeats as we are hammered again by another of the biggest clubs in the division. These are games we don't expect to get anything from right now, but getting thumped so hard is sure to take it's toll on the lads.
Our next match would see us take on Spezia. They are 6th in the league, but with home advantage on our side, this would be a game I'd target to get something from.
And what a result it was! Easily our finest performance of the season as we blow them away to finally put our first 3 points on the board this season!
And we followed that up with another point as we get a draw away at Empoli. Are we starting to put a little run together maybe.
We played well against Cagliari in our next game and can be considered unlucky to be on the losing side. A share of the spoils would have been a fair result, but when things aren't going your way it's really tough.
A real opportunity to get another win in our next game as we faced 18th placed Benevento.
However, nothing went to plan and we were beaten by our fellow promotion side from last year! It was a poor performance!
We picked up a point in our next game though, but in the grand scheme of things it's probably not enough as these are games we have to win if we want to stay up!
Juventus are not the team they were 3 or 4 seasons ago, but they're still a top side and would present another almost impossible task for us to get anything from our next game.
And we didn't, although the scoreline was respectable, especially when you consider we played most of the 2nd half with 10 men!
Parma were up next and it was 20th vs 19th! The match has been dubbed by the media as 'el sackico' with both managers under heavy pressure to get a result and the loser might just get the chop!
But not sure what happens when the game finishes a draw...do both get sacked, or do both keep their job?!
As it turns out, neither of us were fired! However, the media are building the story around me as I go into our next game against Lazio!
It's certainly not ideal to have to play the Serie A champions (yes they won the title last year) to potentially save your job!
Although we lost the game, I really hoped I wouldn't get the sack after this as I definitely see improvement in our performances against the top sides of late. We may have been getting thrashed 5-0 a few games back, but recent narrow losses to Lazio and Juventus show certain progress for me.
And that progress was proven with our next result over Sampdoria! We absolutely blew them away and get our 2nd win of the season!
It's a win that lifts us off the bottom of the table! We're 3 points from safety right now but with performances definitely improving, I'm optimistic about the next few matches.
We'd take a break from Serie A action to play the second round of the Coppa Italia against Benevento. I'll be honest, the cup can go do one this season as we put everything we've got into survival in the top tier. So majority of the first team was rested here with a game against Inter Milan on the horizon.
As expected, we did sacrifice our place in the competition and now we can focus fully on the league for the rest of this season!
With a full first team back for Inter away, I didn't expect us to necessarily win, but I wanted to continue to see that progress on the pitch.
But instead we take a huge step backwards and suffer our biggest defeat of the season! The two red cards didn't help our cause as the players completely lost their heads! Disappointing!
And with that result, the team departed for a 2 week mid season Winter break. Unfortunately, back on the bottom of the league after Empoli picked up a point against Spezia.
We returned in January and first game back was against 14th placed Atalanta. With home advantage on our side, I really hoped we could get something here.
But we start off the year 2025 with a defeat. A narrow one and a tightly contested game...again, we are a little unlucky to lose, especially to such a late goal.
Next up was 15th placed Bologna and there's no getting away from it...it's a must win game!
But we could only manage a draw thanks to Luigi Cuppone's injury time equalizer, despite being the better team throughout!
Our next game also ended in a draw, but getting a point at Fiorentina is one of our best results of the season so far!
It would probably be asking a bit much for the team to replicate it at Napoli though.
It was too much to ask, although again we were competitive.
But against Sassuolo we were not! The scoreline may have only been 2-0 but we have our keeper to thank for that and it could and should have been so many more!
And then came our biggest surprise result of the season so far as we go away to 9th placed Udinese and pick up a massive 3 points! Defensively, this was the best we've been all season by a long way!
We knew the chances of us making it back to back wins for the first time this season would be extremely thin though as our next game saw us take on top of the league Roma.
It was a brave effort though!
AC Milan spanked us 5-0 earlier in the season, but we've definitely improved since then.
The scoreline reflected that and it was a lot closer this time, but they were still too strong for us.
Then came the lowest point of our entire season and I don't have a clue where it came from!
Genoa simply humiliated us!
And that leaves us bottom of the table still and now 8 points from safety with just 13 games to go. It is going to be very, very hard to remain in Serie A from here I feel.
Spezia away...a great opportunity to pick up a vital 3 points after thrashing them 4-0 earlier in the season.
But not this time round. Instead, they repaid the thrashing! We're bang in trouble and if we keep taking results like this, I'll be sure to be out of a job before the season ends!
The pressure is certainly mounting with the board!
It doesn't get any bigger than this for us. Pescara vs Empoli. 20th vs 19th and anything other than a win would not be good enough!
But we didn't show any fight whatsoever and were soundly beaten!
Our next 3 games would also pit us against teams in the bottom 6 in the table. If we were going to survive, then these games would be huge!
But disappointingly, we fail to score a single goal and are beaten in all three matches!
I wasn't exactly looking forward to playing Juventus after this run of form.
And not for the first time this season, we were embarrassed by one of the bigger sides in the country.
With relegation all but assured now, it is admirable that the board have stuck by me this long, but their confidence in me is slowly dwindling away!
Parma are still in the relegation battle and this would present yet another opportunity to pick up points.
And we should have done in all fairness. We had 15 shots to their 4, but somehow lose the game 2-0! Confidence is really low!
It's no surprise though as we have now lost 10 games in a row, scoring just 4 times in those games!
Yay! We did stop the rut against Sampdoria though, picking up our first point in a while!
However, we were immediately back to losing in our next game against the reigning champs.
It was the defeat that finally confirmed our relegation to Serie B!
I've still not been sacked yet though and maybe I will get the opportunity to manage us next season in an attempt to bring the club straight back to the top tier! Our next game would be against 2nd placed Inter Milan and with relegation already confirmed, it was like a weight had been lifted. I mean, I haven't been sacked either so likelihood is that whatever our results in the last few games, I'll keep my job too.
We do lose, which was to be expected, but at least we scored a goal and the scoreline wasn't too bad!
On a positive note, the youth intake is pretty amazing this year!
But I'll never get to see them develop, as in a weird twist of events, the Pescara board have decided to relieve me of my duties, using the poor dressing room atmosphere as the excuse. The time is so strange as the dressing room atmosphere has been poor for a few months now, but yet the board let me battle relegation, let me get relegated, then even let me play another game before they decide to let me go.
So there we have it, in almost a carbon copy of my Crawley save, I saw through back to back promotions in my first two seasons, before being let go in my 3rd! That will bring this story to a close and I will look to start something else later today.
