It's all a load of balls.... The Rise Through Europe

[BallyC7]

Sampdoria

Sampdoria


Year Founded: 1946
Nickname: Blucerchiati
Country: Italy
City: Genoa

Professional Status: Professional
Training Facilities: Excellent
Youth Facilities: Great
Reputation: National (3.5 Stars)
Estimated Value: £94.99 million

Stadium: Luigi Ferraris
Year Built: 1911
Capacity: 36,599
Features: Grass surface, No under soil heating

Fierce Rivals: Genoa (Local)
Other Rivals: Bologna (Historic), Torino (Historic)
Derbies: della Lanterna Derby (vs Genoa)


Previous Honours

Italian Serie A: Winners (1991)

Italian Serie A: Third Placed (1994)

Italian Serie B: Winners (1967)

Italian Serie B: Runners Up (2003)

Italian Serie B: Third Placed (1982)

Italian Cup: Winners (1985, 1988, 1989, 1994)

Italian Cup: Runners Up (1986, 1991, 2009)

Italian Super Cup: Winners (1991)

Italian Super Cup: Runners Up (1988, 1989, 1994)

Champions League: Runners Up (1992)

Cup Winners Cup: Winners (1990)

Cup Winners Cup: Runners Up (1989)

European Super Cup: Runners Up (1990)



So looking back over Sampdoria's history its clear to see that their main period of success was in the late 80s/early 90s but since then there really hasn't been much success at all with no trophy for coming up to 30 years! Over the past 6 seasons in Serie A they have finished between 7th and 15th so are generally considered a mid table side now, usually clear of relegation but not threatening the European places either.



My Contract

I have been handed a 2 and a half year contract worth £12,250 per week, a huge pay rise on the £1,900 per week I was earning at Norrkoping.



Backroom Staff

I have brought a number of staff with me to Sampdoria from IFK Norrkoping. They include...

Christer Persson - Assistant Manager
Tania Nilsson - Head Physio
Jenny Larsson - Physio
Luis Oyarzo - Physio
Michael Nielsen - Scout
Erik Silfverberg - Scout

As a result, the Sampdoria Assistant Manager and Head Physio were relieved of their duties when I took over.



Current League Standing

I take over with Sampdoria sitting mid table in 12th position with 21 points from 19 games. The club is underachieving based on the pre season media prediction of finishing 8th.

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The team have won two of their last 3 games so confidence should be on the up, but looking back through the schedule this season, wins have been few and far between and there is a severe lack of goals being scored.

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Board Expectations


With half of the season gone, I am quite surprised by the board's low expectation for Serie A. They are only looking for me to avoid relegation this year.

As far as the Italian Cup goes, we were knocked out in the first round by Udinese, but the initial expectation had been to make the quarter final.

In the Europa League, the board had expected the team to reach the group stage, but they had been knocked out in the third qualifying round by FC Zurich.



Budgets

The club currently have a relatively low bank balance of only £461,198.

They have handed me a transfer budget of £6 million.

The board have also given me a wage budget of £901k per week, of which we are currently spending £921k per week, so this will need reducing.








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[BallyC7]

Squad Evaluation

Squad Evaluation

First day on the job and again my first job on the agenda is to have a look at my squad. So the first things I notice...


I have two players in Karol Linetty and Leonardo Capezzi who are valued at over £15 million each

I have been reunited with centre back/right back Felix Bejimo who spent two years on loan with me at IFK Norrkoping. Sampdoria had bought the player from Malmo for a fee of £2.6 million at the start of this season.

I have a **** load of central midfielders.....far too many!

I have good players in all positions of the pitch (lots of 3.5 and 4 star players on AM's report)

I could do with improving the quality in the inside forward roles

My full backs are OK, but not fantastic, which is a key role in my formation

Other than Toloi, my centre backs are not of great quality

The squad is represented by a large number of nationalities, with only 8 Italian players

Most of my midfielders are short, under 5ft 11"

Most of the team are aged between 25 and 32 so should be in their prime

There is a distinct lack of youngsters breaking into the team with the youngest player in the whole squad being 21


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After having a look at the whole team in quite a lot of detail, some of my key players include...


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Leonardo Capezzi
Position: DM/MC
Nationality: Italy
Age: 27

Capezzi looks like a very good playmaker with very good passing ability. He works very well in a team and has a good first touch. His stats overall look very good.



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Karol Linetty
Position: MC
Nationality: Poland
Age: 27

Karol is going to suit my box to box midfielder role perfectly. His work rate and teamwork is awesome!



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Denis Alibec
Position: ST
Nationality: Romania
Age: 32

Getting on a bit at 32, but a very good striker with a great first touch and decent stats for finishing and composure too.



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Arber Zeneli
Position: AMRL
Nationality: Kosovo
Age: 27

Just signed for the club for £4.8 million from Borrusia Monchengladbach before I arrived. Looks like he will be a decent inside forward for me with good dribbling and pace for attacking that box!
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[BallyC7]

January 2023 Review

January 2023 Review

Results

Serie A
Sampdoria 2 - 1 Genoa

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My first game in charge at Sampdoria would be the della Lanterna Derby against local rivals Genoa! What a game to introduce myself! I'd had a matter of days to look over the squad and pick what I felt was my best 11, but the game had come a bit quicker than I'd hoped. The game started off with Genoa on the front foot, as we sat deep and looked a little unsure of ourselves for the first 20 minutes. But we started to warm into the game from there and on 28 minutes I withnessed my new team's first goal with me in charge as we took the lead through debutant Arber Zeneli who had enough time and space in the box he could have stopped for a cup of tea before blasting home the opening goal. 10 minutes later and we were two in front, a first time strike from striker Denis Alibec getting on the end of an excellent cross from left back Vasco Regini. My first half time team talk came and I instructed the lads not to get complacent as things can soon turn around should they lose concentration. On 60 minutes it looked like game over as centre back Rafael Toloi went up for a free kick, got on the end of it and smashed home only for the referee to disallow the goal for an apparent foul. Genoa pulled a goal back with 12 minutes remaining and it would setup a tense final few minutes of the game. Genoa pushed men forward and tried hard to find the equalizer but it never came and I'd opened my account with a win in possibly Sampdoria's biggest fixture of their entire season....what a great way to get the fans on board immediately.


Serie A
Empoli 0 - 1 Sampdoria

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My second fixture in charge would be away at Empoli who were sitting 19th in the table. I was grateful I hadn't been thrown in the deep end with any of the big boys straight away - playing the likes of Juventus or either of the Milans would have been tough with only a few days on the training field with my new team. But the lads did really well and looked like they'd been playing my way for years as they created 22 chances in this game and Empoli to only 8 and we also dominated the posession with 65%. For all that dominance though, we did only manage one goal but one goal was enough today as we secured a tidy 1-0 victory. Denis Alibec grabbed his second goal in 2 games working hard to get on the end of a Tagliafico cross.


League Table

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2 games in charge. 2 wins. And 2 places moved up the table!



Player of the Month

No player of the month award as I am still settling in and have only been in charge for 2 games.



Injury Update

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A healthy team with no injury worries.


Ball Names Captain

The captain's armband has been given to Karol Linetty. He is our box to box midfielder so will be heavily involved at both ends of the field to shout direction and encourage the team all over the pitch. He offers decent leadership and determination stats of 13.

The vice captain duties have been handed to Linetty's central midfield partner, Leonardo Capezzi, who offers stats of 13 for leadership and 15 for determination.


Italian Legend Joins Sampdoria

No other than the legend himself, Francesco Totti, has joined the club as Manager of our U20 squad. What a boost that should be for our young lads coming through the club.


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[BallyC7]

Deadline Day

New Manager Chris Ball Gets Involved On Deadline Day

After an evaluation of the team, it was obvious that we had far too many players for some positions and I needed to trim the squad down a little and try to reduce the wage bill. I transfer listed and offered out four players that are deemed surplus to requirements. No transfer offers came in, but all four players have left the club on loan deals with the loaning clubs contributing towards their wage and paying a monthly fee for the rest of the season.

Michele Rocca has joined Serie B side Frosinone.
Roberts Veips has joined Serie A side Palermo.
Andres Ponce has joined Serie A side Atalanta.
Olger Merkaj has joined Serie B side Crotone.


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English Right Back Joins Sampdoria On Loan

One area of the squad that I thought we were lacking depth was the right back role. After searching what was available to me, I have brought in 24 year old English full back Trent Alexander-Arnold. Trent joins us from Liverpool and will be with us until the end of the season. Terms of the deal dictate that we will pay 40% of Alexander-Arnold's wages which equates to £21,500 for the duration of the loan. We will also pay a monthly playing fee of £100k.

Trent is a pacey full back who is competent in defence as well as getting forward. He is an excellent tackler of the ball, but when he gets in the opponents half, he has great crossing ability too. I think he is a great addition to the squad.


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[BallyC7]

IFK Norrkoping Appoint New Manager

IFK Norrkoping Appoint Ball's Successor

IFK Norrkoping have today announced that the man to take over from me as manager will be Felix Helander.

40 year old Helander was an U19s coach at the club and has been promoted into the managerial position, his first senior management appointment in his career to date.

I actually brought Helander to the club in January 2022, so I have to say I'm pleased for him and I genuinely hope he can step up and fill my boots!


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[kolas79]

Love your new club my friend ! Good move to seek your luck in a more advanced league. Hope you will bring success in this historic club. Always loved their logo and their jersey as well ha ha !!

 

[Sammuthegreat]

Wow, seems I missed a lot by not checking the thread for a few days...!

Great end to the season there in Sweden. The last three fixtures:

Norrkoping: P3 W2 D1 L0 GF9 GA3
Malmo: P3 W0 D0 L0 GF3 GA9

Wowsers. Collapse-and-a-half from Malmo! And what a two-horse race...

Great team to move to, as well. I have a soft spot for Sampdoria. You should go for Callum Gribbin if you're short of quality out wide, he looked like he was good enough for this team...

 

[BallyC7]

Love your new club my friend ! Good move to seek your luck in a more advanced league. Hope you will bring success in this historic club. Always loved their logo and their jersey as well ha ha !!

Yea I'm quite happy here now. Enjoying my time in Italy already. Always feels like you just want to get the season out of the way when you join half way through and get to a fresh start next season. But I can use this year to learn my team properly.

 

[BallyC7]

Wow, seems I missed a lot by not checking the thread for a few days...!

Great end to the season there in Sweden. The last three fixtures:

Norrkoping: P3 W2 D1 L0 GF9 GA3
Malmo: P3 W0 D0 L0 GF3 GA9

Wowsers. Collapse-and-a-half from Malmo! And what a two-horse race...

Great team to move to, as well. I have a soft spot for Sampdoria. You should go for Callum Gribbin if you're short of quality out wide, he looked like he was good enough for this team...

Yea it was unusual for them to collapse the way they did, especially as they'd only lost a couple all season up until then and 1 of those was against me. I have had a look at Gribbin and he very quickly became a favourite player of mine at Norrkoping so I'd love to have him here....have to wait and see if I can get him in the Summer...especially as I intend to have a bit of a clearout here which hopefully will boost the funds I have to play with

 

[Sammuthegreat]

Should say Malmo lost 3, obviously. Oops.

 

[BallyC7]

February 2023 Review

February 2023 Review

Results

Serie A
Sampdoria 1 - 1 Atalanta

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Atalanta came into this game off the back of a decent win against Napoli so we knew they'd be in high spirits. And it only took 4 minutes for our opponents to get in front, catching us on the counter attack with a good run down the right wing from Ruan before he crossed in for Sakho to put it away. The early goal seemed to spur us into action as we came back at our opponents again and again, putting together numerous decent attacks, until we equalized on 26 minutes through inside forward Arber Zeneli. The rest of the first half was relatively quiet as both teams seemed to be cancelling each other out. We started the second half strongly applying plenty of pressure, and it looked like that pressure would be rewarded when we earned a penalty in the 62nd minute, only for Capezzi to step up and strike his shot straight at the Atalanta keeper. Both full backs were subbed on 74 minutes to introduce some fresh legs down both wings where we seemed to be having some success, and although we continued to dominate the rest of the game we just couldn't get that 2nd goal to give us the win.



Serie A
AC Milan 1 - 0 Sampdoria

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My first game against one of the Italian 'big guns' would see us travel to the San Siro to take on AC Milan. This would be by far the biggest stage I had managed on in my career to date and to say I was excited was an understatement. I just hoped my lads would do me proud and not make it a day I wanted to forget. We started the game brightly and were looking the more likely to score in the opening 15 minutes, and I thought we had when Denis Alibec struck a beautiful shot from outside the box which looked destined for the top corner, only for AC Milan goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma to pull off an incredible save. Following that the referee awarded Milan a very soft penalty - they got a free kick and crossed into the box. As the players jumped for the ball, Karol Linetty was deemed to have pushed the Milan striker in the back and the referee awarded the pen which was converted by Tenconi. Half time came and I couldn't fault the lads, they were playing well and didn't deserve to find themselves losing. I told them as much in an attempt to boost their confidence for the second half. And the lads did go out and give it a really good go in the 2nd half, with us by far the better side on display. Unfortunately though, we just couldn't get that equalizer and walk away disappointed as we deserved more from this game. It's not often you can walk away from a loss and say that your team gave a solid performance but this was definitely one of those occasions.


Serie A
Sampdoria 2 - 1 Cagliari

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Bottom side Cagliari were next up and hopefully we could use this game to help put the disappointment of the Milan result behind us. I brought in Federico Girotti up front, in place of Denis Alibec who'd been out of sorts over the last couple of games, and the decision paid off immediately as he headed a close range effort into the back of the net to give us the lead only 22 seconds into the game. In the 12th minute, we extended our lead via an own goal from the Cagliari centre back who deflected a cross into his own net. Victor Ibarbo pulled one back for the visitors on 36 minutes with a cracking strike from outside the box which bounced down over the line off the crossbar. From then on we were always in control although neither team really threatened the other's goal and the score remained 2-1. Good to get a win straight after a loss.


Serie A
Fiorentina 0 - 0 Sampdoria

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Our final game of the month would be against struggling Fiorentina. They were languishing down in 17th position and massively underachieving against their pre season media prediction of 7th. I'd been interviewed by them for the manager's role 7 weeks ago, but they'd opted to go for Laurent Blanc instead...I intended to show them that was a mistake. We were the better team for the first half hour of the game but when Tagliafico was sent off for a second yellow card, I feared the worst as I knew Fiorentina would see this as an ideal opportunity to get themselves an invaluable 3 points. But we held our own for the rest of the game and it was actually pretty even right up to the end even though we only had 10 men, and in the end this was a decent point.


League Table

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Sitting comfortably in mid table and gradually pulling away from the relegation places and looking more likely that we won't be drawn into anything at the bottom end of the table. Unfortunately, we're probably a bit too far behind to be challenging for any European places this season.


Player of the Month

Jacopo Sala
DR

Appearances: 4
Goals: 0
Assists: 2
Man of the Match: 2
Average Rating: 7.65


Some decent performances this month from Sala, bagging 2 man of the match awards in the 4 games we played.



Milestone Game for Regini

Left back Vasco Regini made his 300th league appearance for the club in the game against Atalanta.



Ball Fined By Italian FA

I was fined £2.4k by the Italian FA for my outburst following the game against AC Milan. I made my feelings known in the press conference following the match, that I didn't think it was a penalty that had been awarded and it cost us the game.



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[BallyC7]

March 2023 Review

March 2023 Review

Results

Serie A
Sampdoria 1 - 2 Juventus

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We kicked off March with a tough home fixture against reigning champions Juventus. And it quickly became even tougher when Juve took the lead inside a minute. Despite the early goal, the rest of the first half was pretty uneventful with both teams cancelling each other out and only creating a couple of half chances each. Only 8 minutes into the 2nd half came our equalizer, a header from a corner. But it wasn't long before Juve were back in front through a Moise Kean strike from close range. The score remained that way and we recorded our 2nd defeat since I took over.


Serie A
Roma 0 - 1 Sampdoria

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We followed up the game against Juventus with an away day at another of the top teams in the league, 2nd placed Roma. We started the better of the two teams and it wasn't against the run of play when we took the lead on 15 minutes, a headed goal from Denis Alibec after beating his man to the front post to get on the end of a cross from the right side of the pitch. The rest of the game was a close affair with both teams having their moments in front of goal and coming close a couple of times. But there were no more goals which suited us just fine. What a fantastic result over Roma, as we inflicted only their 3rd defeat of the season.


Serie A
Sampdoria 2 - 0 Chievo

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After running games against arguably the two best sides in the division, it was nice to be playing a team in the bottom half of the table in Chievo. The team were on a high after the win against Roma and I expected them to follow up with another victory here. The first half there was only one team in it as we dominated every stat, and scored on 35 minutes through a low powerful effort from Arber Zeneli. 45 seconds into the 2nd half and Zeneli was clean through on goal again only to be hacked down by the Chievo centre back who shockingly was only shown a yellow card. Trent Alexander-Arnold stepped up and fired towards the bottom corner only for the goalie to pull off an outstanding save and tip the ball wide. However, the disappointment of the missed pen was soon behind us as we scored from the resulting corner. The score remained 2-0 and to be honest with Chievo only creating 2 chances in the whole game it never really looked in doubt.


League Table

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We're on the move up the table with another 2 wins this month seeing us rise to 9th position.



Player of the Month

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Denis Baumgartner
AMR

Appearances: 3
Goals: 2
Assists: 1
Key Passes: 3
Average Rating: 7.13


Denis has only really been brought into the team this month having only made 1 appearance so far in 2023 and he has stepped up brilliantly contributing to 3 goals in 3 games.



Injury Update

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No injuries to worry about.



Financial Update

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The club's financial situation doesn't look great.



Homesick Ravet Given Leave of Absence

Yoric Ravet given leave of absence to return to France as he is feeling homesick. The player will return to the club in 34 days.
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[BallyC7]

April 2023 Review

April 2023 Review

Results

Serie A
Napoli 1 - 1 Sampdoria

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Gutted. Threw the game in the 93rd minute giving away a soft penalty! Not much else to say apart from I'm fuming as this is a silly 2 points dropped against a top team that would have been a brilliant win!


Serie A
Udinese 3 - 3 Sampdoria

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A great game for the neautrals as this one finished in a 3-3 draw. Real end to end stuff with both sides creating good chances and taking them well too. It looked towards the end that we might suffer defeat until substitute Abdelhak Nouri got in behind the Udinese defence to earn us a well deserved point.


Serie A
Sampdoria 3 - 0 Bologna

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Bologna were our next visitors to the Luigi Ferraris stadium and I was keen to get a win after a couple of draws this month. Although the stats make the game look like it was tight, its not really a true reflection as all the main chances came from us and Bologna never really threatened to score. Abdelhak Nouri picked up where he left off against Udinese with another 2 goals and was making a good account for a regular first team spot, as I continue to put my players through their paces and decide on my first 11.


Serie A
Cesena 0 - 1 Sampdoria

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Bottom of the table Cesena were up next, but this didn't turn out to be as comfortable a win as I was expecting. In a surprisingly even game, we literally scraped a 1-0 win with a much better 2nd half performance after being absolutely awful and completely outshone by our lowly opponents in the first half.


Serie A
Sampdoria 0 - 3 Inter Milan

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From playing bottom of the table Cesena, we'd now invite the league leaders Inter Milan to the Luigi Ferraris stadium, and I knew we'd need to be a lot better in this game to get anything out of it. And to be fair the lads did turn out a much better performance and really didn't deserve to lose this game 3-0 as we held our own against the team on top of the league. When we went down to 10 men at 1-0 down though, we just couldn't keep up and were slightly overrun which is a shame.


Serie A
Sassuolo 1 - 2 Sampdoria

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A decent away win against a side that were in the running for a top 6 finish.


League Table

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We lifted ourselves to 8th place this month and with results going our way in the final month there was a very slight chance we could qualify for a Europa League spot. Something that looked well beyond our reach when I took over.



Player of the Month

Abdelhak Nouri
AMR/L

Appearances: 5 (1 as sub)
Goals: 3
Assists: 2
Shots/Shots on Target: 9/5
Average Rating: 7.26


Nouri has been in fantastic form this month contributing 3 goals and a couple of assists. His attacking prowess has been clear to see and again another player who is pushing to stick around this Summer.



Injury Update

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Only a few minor injuries amongst the squad but nothing serious.



Financial Update

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Losses of £1.6 million this month don't help the negative bank balance.


200 Games Up For Denis Alibec

Denis Alibec made his 200th league appearance for the club in the game against Napoli.
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[BallyC7]

May 2023 Review

May 2023 Review

Results

Serie A
Sampdoria 1 - 1 Torino

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We kicked off the final month of the season with a big game against 5th placed Torino. In all honesty, the first half was slow and pretty boring with both teams cancelling each other out with their 4-1-2-3 formations. But we did find a way through right at the end of the half as the in form Nouri crossed for Alibec to tap in for a half time lead. Torino came out for the 2nd half with a bit more urgency about them and it only took 9 minutes to get their equalizer through winger Tobias Svendsen. Torino really started to turn the screw at that point and we had to soak up a lot of pressure for the remainder of the game, but our defence held firm and we saw the game out for a point.


Serie A
Lazio 2 - 0 Sampdoria

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We headed off to the Olimpico for an away day with Lazio next and this would see 9th vs 8th in the league, and the winner would still be in with an outside chance of making a Europa League qualification spot. Lazio certainly started the better side and midway through the 2nd half they found the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead, through a headed effort from a corner. Immediately in the 2nd half, Lazio scored their 2nd and we didn't look like getting anything out of this game. Our hopes of salvaging anything were completely gone when we went down to ten men on 61 minutes when centre back Maxime Leverbe was sent off for a second bookable offence. The game finished 2-0 to Lazio and any hopes of a european qualification spot have now gone.


Serie A
Sampdoria 1 - 0 Novara

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Our penultimate game of the season saw us face 16th placed Novara who has secured themselves a place in next year's Serie A competition already so didn't have a lot to play for, as did we. So this was in all a pretty drab match with both sides looking like they were struggling to get into it. A Denis Alibec goal secured us the 3 points on the day.


Serie A
Palermo 3 - 2 Sampdoria

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Our final game of the season would be away at Palermo who had already finished 17th in the league and would be playing Serie A football next year. There was a sense around our changing room before the game that a number of these players wouldn't be turning out in a Sampdoria shirt next year and I think it put a bit of uncertainty amongst the side before the game as we didn't play to our best at all. With a disappointing performance, came a disappointing defeat to end the season.



Final League Table

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We ended up finishing 9th in the table, not a bad result considering the board had set a pre season goal to avoid relegation and when I took over we were sitting 12th. Hopefully we can push on next season.



Player of the Month


Salvatore Del Giudice
DM

Appearances: 3
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Interceptions: 26
Average Rating: 7.07


The 21 year old was given a chance to impress toward the end of the season and came in and did a pretty solid job.


Financial Update

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Things don't look too great on the financial side at the moment but it could be all change over the Summer as I look to move a number of players on and bring in some new faces of my own.



Serie A Prize Money & Squad Bonuses

The club have been given £2.49 million in prize money for finishing 9th in Serie A this season.


The club have paid out a total of £1 million to be shared amongst the squad on a pro rata basis after finishing 9th in Serie A this season.



New Contract for Tagliafico

Left back Nicolas Tagliafico has signed a new contract which will keep him at the club for another 2 years. The contract will see Tagliafico earn a weekly salary of £33,000 as a squad rotation player. Nicolas has shown me over the past few months that he deserves to be at the club and will be in and around the first team next season, although I have warned him he needs to improve his performances slightly to ensure he is a regular first eleven starter.



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[BallyC7]

End of Season Player Stats

End of Season Player Stats

Top Average Rating (in relation to appearances):


1st: Nicolas Tagliafico - LB - 28 appearances - 7.20
2nd: Karol Linetty - MC - 35 appearances - 7.08
3rd: Leonardo Capezzi - MC - 34 appearances - 7.01



Top Goalscorers:

1st: Denis Alibec - ST - 17
2nd: Federico Girotti - ST - 5
3rd: Abdelhak Nouri - AML/R - 4



Top Assists:

1st: Abdelhak Nouri - AML/R - 7
2nd: Vasco Regini - LB - 5
3rd: Nicolas Tagliafico - LB - 4




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[BallyC7]

Coppa Italia Winners

Roma Win Coppa Italia

AS Roma have lifted the 2023 Coppa Italia, following a 2-0 win over Juventus.


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[BallyC7]

European Competition Winners 2022/23

European Competition Winners 2022/23

Here's the update from around Europe as the major competitions have now come to a close for the 2022/2023 season...


English Premiership Winners: Chelsea
English Premiership Runners Up: Liverpool
English FA Cup Winners: Chelsea
English League Cup Winners: Chelsea


Spanish La Liga Winners: Real Madrid
Spanish La Liga Runners Up: Barcelona
Spanish Cup Winners: Real Madrid


German Bundesliga Winners: Bayern Munich
German Bundesliga Runners Up: Wolfsburg
German Cup Winners: Bayer Leverkusen


French Ligue 1 Winners: Paris Saint Germain
French Ligue 1 Runners Up: AS Monaco
French Cup Winners: Stade Rennais FC
French Coupe de la Ligue Winners: AS Monaco


Italian Serie A Winners: Inter Milan
Italian Serie A Runners Up: Roma
Italian Cup Winners: Roma


Holland Eredivisie Winners: Ajax
Holland Eredivisie Runners Up: Feyenoord
Holland Dutch Cup Winners: FC Utrecht


Portuguese Premier League Winners: Benfica
Portuguese Premier League Runners Up: Sporting Lisbon
Taca de Portugal Winners: Sporting Lisbon


Scotland Premiership Winners: Celtic
Scotland Premiership Runners Up: Rangers
Scottish Cup Winners: Celtic


Champions League Winners: Paris Saint Germain
Champions League Runners Up: Manchester United


Europa League Winners: FC Porto
Europa League Runners Up: Liverpool


European Super Cup Winners: Manchester United​

 

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June 2023 Review

June 2023 Review

Board Set New Budgets

The board have set the initial budgets for next season....

The transfer budget has been set at £3.71 million.
The wage budget has been set at £950k per week. The club are currently spending £903k per week on wages.


Club Announce Big Losses
The board have announced that there will be no tax bill to pay as the club failed to make any profit over the past financial year. In fact, the club has made a loss of £10.5 million.


TV Rights

The club have been informed that we will receive £36.06 million for Serie A TV rights over the coming season.


Sponsorship & Shirt Sales

Our Commercial Director has announced two new sponsorship deals for the club. They will be worth a combined £120k per annum, with the most notable deal being with a local company worth £70k per year.

Total sponsoship over this past year has exceeded £5.7 million, a rise on last year.


Shirt sales this season brought in a total revenue of £1.97 million, with £197k of this coming from abroad. The most in demand player name this season was Karol Linetty, followed by Abdelhak Nouri and Denis Alibec.


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New Contract For Alibec

32 year old striker Denis Alibec has signed a new contract with the club. The deal will keep Alibec at the club for 2 years and is worth £42,000 per week. Alibec was the club's top scorer last season with 17 goals and I felt it was important to tie him down as his previous deal was coming to an end.


Three Players Leave Sampdoria

Central midfielder, David Ivan has left the club to join Olympique Lyonnais for an initial fee of £4.7 million. Lyon will pay us a further £700k after Ivan has made 30 appearances. Ivan had approached me this month asking to leave the club as he felt he could achieve all he can here and with the club in desperate need of funds, I didn't want to stand in his way. Ivan is a product of the Sampdoria youth academy and had made 76 appearances for the club, scoring 3 goals.

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Midfielder Jaromir Zmrhal has left the club to join french side Stade de Reims for a fee of £825k. Zmrhal had only spent 2 seasons at the club and was deemed surplas to requirements.

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33 year old winger Yoric Ravet has left the club on a free transfer after his contract came to an end and I decided not to retain his services.






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[BallyC7]

Rankings Update

Rankings Update


The Italian Serie A has dropped 1 place to 4th in the recently released European Competition Rankings. The English Premier Division is currently ranked number 1.




Sampdoria have been ranked as the 8th most reputable team in Italy this year. Juventus, Napoli and Inter Milan were ranked as the top 3 teams in the country.



Sampdoria have risen 5 places to 96th position in the latest European Club Rankings. Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid are ranked as the top 3.



Italy have dropped to 4th position in the European nation coefficients table, meaning that only the top 2 teams in Serie A will automatically qualify for the Champions League, with 3rd place entering at the best placed playoff stage. 2 teams will qualify automatically for the Europa League with a further team entering the competition at the Third Qualifying Round stage.



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[BallyC7]

Mass Clearout

Ball Has Clearout At Sampdoria

No less than 8 players have left the club over the Summer on permanent transfers. It was important to clear out some of the dead wood and raise some funds to bring in a better standard of player for the upcoming season...


Striker Olger Merkaj has left the club to join Crotone for a fee of £913k. Merkaj was sent out on loan to Crotone last season following my arrival at the club. He only made 4 appearances for them in which he did score 2 goals.

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Gaetano Monachello has left the club after only one season. He has joined Palermo for a fee of £3.97 million. Monachello was in and around the first team for us last season and was given plenty of chances to impress. However, with an average rating of 6.68 from his 13 appearances, I didn't feel he'd proved himself good enough to remain at the club.

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Andres Ponce has left the club, joining Atalanta for a fee of £2.39 million. Ponce spent the back end of last season on loan with Atalanta, scoring 2 goals in 9 appearances.

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Ibourahima Balde has joined Empoli for a fee of £700k. Balde spent last season on loan at Las Palmas and was pretty poor to be honest, and on his return to the club, I saw no place for him in my team.

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Daniel Guida has left the club and joined Serie A side Udinese for a fee of £1.5 million. Guida has spent 3 years at Sampdoria, without making a single appearance for the club.

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Striker Federico Bonazzoli has left the club to join Empoli. They have paid us a fee of £2.3 million to secure his services. Bonazzoli spent last season on loan at Croatian First League side Rijeka where he scored 8 goals in 20 appearances.

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27 year old midfielder Jakub Hromada has left the club to join Carpi for a fee of £300k. Hromada spent last season out on loan at Chievo, scoring 1 goal in his 13 appearances in Serie A.

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Central midfielder Michele Rocca has left the club and joined Serie A side Novara. Rocca spent the whole of last season on loan in Serie B with Frosinone, where he made a total of 21 appearances, racking up an average rating of 7.16. Novara have paid a fee of £575k to secure the midfielder's services.

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