Nuella è certo

[AidanD10]

I started a new story a couple of days ago, however my laptop died and the file corrupted, however I will start his new one and it will be a little different from the last one. If anybody has any suggestions please leave them for me as I want to make this as interesting to read as possible. Enjoy


July 1st 2014:
Nulla è certo, this is my motto for life, it is Italian for 'Nothing is Certain' I believe in this as it means to take nothing for granted. However I fell victim to it today.


Today was the worst day of my life, I knew it was coming, the fans knew it was coming, the world knew it was coming. My past had been hidden but had now come and swallowed me whole. It had changed my life in the matter of seconds.


My name is Alessio Cantini and I am, or sorry was the manager of Sheffield United up until today. The incident occured a couple of months back in Peterborough. It was the last game of the season and we were drawing 2-2. We needed the win to get into the play-offs, we needed 1 goal. An inch perfect pass had come in over Jose Baxter's shoulder and he had fired it home. I was estatic, everything had finally fallen into place, or had it?

Within seconds my dreams were shattered as the whistle went, I looked over my right shoulder and the linesman had his flag up for offside, I was furious, I snapped. One minute I saw him, the next I was standing next to him, screaming down his ear to make sure he heard my anger and fustration. The referee came over and sent me to the stands for the rest of the game. However the punishment would be alot more severe.
That brings us to now, after months of meetings and discusions between the FA, Referees association, the club and the surporters trust, they came to the conclusion. I had to go, within an hour or so of me being notified; this was put up on the Sheffield United Official website.

'SHEFFIELD UNITED SACK CANTINI'


"We regret to inform him, the board but most importantly the fans, we have released Alessio Cantini from his managerial contract, we are thankful to him for all he has done but we can not put up with abuse towards officials at our club so we have therefore released him"


"We hope him the best for the future and hope he will once again find himself in management but sadly it can't be here"

Comments were flying everywhere on this article and all over twitter. The main message from them was:

"Everyone deserves a 2nd chance, he has only done it once and he deserved to stay"


As much as I love the fans backing I knew they werent correct, this was actually the 4th time I had been fined for abuse towards officials. I was hoping that as I grew I would be able to handle it better, it never happened and now I have payed the ultimate price

 

[AidanD10]

July 20th 2014:
I had spent 3 weeks in Sheffield looking for a new job, I had accepted the fact that I would no longer be involved in football, however I had no luck I had tried desperately to find a job so me and my wife could stay here but no luck

We decided we were going to move back to Milan and live in our home back there, however something happened today that altered this plan just a little bit.


I was packing up the kitchen items when my phone started to ring, I was going to ignore it as I wasn't in the mood to talk to others and I just wanted to pack, however I decided against this. This would be the best decsion of my life far. I picked up the
phone.


"Hello"


"Yes hello is this Alessio Cantini"


"Yes who is speaking to me"


"Its is Giuseppe Iachini"


"..........."


" The Palermo manger???"


"Yes I know who you were, I was just shocked about why you would be ringing ME?"


"Well as you know, Palermo are back in the Seria A and I'm delighted and happy with the team but something isn't right"


"Go on...."


"Well, we have a solid Goalkeeper and defence, Our midfielders create plenty of chances but..."


"The forwards...."


"Exactly the forwards aren't the most clinical and we need to improve this so I was ringing you to offer you a trial"


"A trial to train the Forwards"


"Yeah, I mean who better to teach the strikers at our club then a man who is one of our all time top goalscorers"


"So it is only a trial???...."


"Yes, we fully trust your managerial skills but not too sure about your coaching so I will offer you a deal"


" Which is......"


" You have the 2nd half of pre-season to prove to us that you can train these strikers into goal machines, you will be on full wages
and if you impress there may be a full time role up for grabs"


"I would love to take this job"


"Great, see you on Monday then"


*Call ended*


So it seems we are definately off to Italy but maybe not Milan.

 

[AidanD10]

August 4th 2014:

I approached the Campo Tenente Onorato, Palermo training ground, with thought flying through my head. I was excited to work with these strikers at the club, mainly Paulo Dybala, I was going to try and sign him for Sheffield United if I got into the championship, however we all know how that ended.

Suddenly, a though popped into my head, what if the players know about my past and ignore me or don't go with my orders, these ideas were starting to make me nervous and I almost turned around and went home but I was brought back to reality by an excited shout,


AB:"Hey"


AC:"Oh hello, You must be Andrea Belotti and ..... Paulo Dybala"


AB:"Yeah we are and you are"


AC:"Actually I'm the new strikers coach here at Palermo"


PD"Really!!, well I can't wait to get to work, see you inside"


AC:"Yeah see you guys inside"


All thoughts left my head and I walked into the training ground with a smile on my face.

 

[AidanD10]

August 27th 2014:
I was in my home in Palmero, sittting my office going over the stats and facts for our strikers, mainly focusing Belotti and Dybala as I belive those two could become world class stars and lead the team to sucsess this season.

I reviewed their abilities to see where we could improve,when I heard a ringing, it was my phone on the desk, I picked it up:


Iachini "Hey, Alessio we need to talk to you about something"


Cantini " Yeah sure boss whats wrong?"

Iachini "Well me and the board have talked this over and we are going to be cutting your trial short"


Cantini "Oh..I do understand but I was hoping to have had a bigger impact at the club"


Iachini " Oh but you will, we are only cancelling your trial so that we can offer you a full contract, you have been superb and worked wonders with our strikers, in 6 games we have scored 11 goals with Belotti scoring 7 and Dybala scoring 3.


Cantini "Oh thank you so much, I wont let you down and I'm so excited to get fully started"


Iachini "Well then, See you in training tommorow then"


*Call ends*


I have had 2 months of up and downs, from being sacked by Sheffield United, to not be able to find any job in Sheffield and now I am a full time coach for Palermo.

 

[AidanD10]

September 27th 20A14:

I was once again sitting in my office assessing our recent matches and tried to see how I can help the strikers score more, As in recent games we haven't won many so we need to try and win.


I got a call and I instantly knew who it was, Iachini had recently had surgery on his knee and he explained how he would ring me when he was finshed: I picked up the phone.


Iachini " Alessio, can I call you Alessio?"

Cantini "Of course you can, how was the operation"

Iachini "Well...there was a minor problem so I need to go back in tommorow to continue, the problem is I will be unable to
exercise for around a year."
Cantini " A YEAR!?!?"

Iachini "Yeah so I have had to resign from the Palermo job"

Cantini " I'm sorry for you and I hope you all the best for the future but.... about my job.....will I keep it?"

Iachini " Actually the board want you to go in tommorow to have a meeting with them over your job"
Cantini "Ok... well all the best for tommorow and I hope you a full recovery"
Iachini "Thank you and good luck to you too"
*Call Ended*
Well after 2 unbelievably amazing months being a coach at Palermo, working with the likes of Paulo Dybala, Andrea Belotti and other amazing men, I fear my time in football may once again be over.

 

[AidanD10]

September 28th 2014:

Today would be the day, today would change everything in my world, today would change my future.


I approached the Palermo stadium and into the board's meeting room where I was met by a wave of hand shakes and hellos. We sat down, this was the first time me and the board sat face to face.


Zamparini "Hello and welcome, thank you for coming"


Catini " Great to be here, how can I be of assistance to you?"

Zamparini "Well.. obviously you are well aware of the sitation with Iachini, we wish the best for him but this leaves your job in danger as you were his choice not ours.."


Catini " So you are going to release me from my contract"


Zamparini " Sadly yes we would like to offer you a mutual termination"


Catini "Well I'm not one to argue, hehe, well not anymore so I will accept it."


Zamparini Thank you for understanding..?


Catini "Well thats that then, I have enjoyed my time here and I hope the best for the club"


Zamparini "Wait! We aren't done here yet.."


Catini "Pardon.."


Zamparani "Well Iachini's last request was that we should leave you in charge as interim manager for the rest of the season and
that's exactly what we are going to do"


Catini " Thank you so much I won't let you down"


Zamparini " You better not, but anyway you better get going, your first game is in 3 hours"


I headed to my brand new office, I looked down to my phone, 60 new messages, I wanted to read them but I had no time, I
needed to prepare and alert the boys of how I want them to play.


Although I agreed with Iachini's slow, possesion build up play, I prefer a quicker more direct style of play.


I reached the dressing room and released my team sheet


Sorrentino
Gonzalez Terzi Andelkovic
Morganella Lazaar
Rigoni Chochev
Vazquez
Dybala Belotti


Sassulo Vs Palermo


Pre-match Prediction: Sassulo are the favourite here and I can definatly see them winning this game 2, 3-0


Kick off: And we are underway here at the Mapei stadium with Sassulo Vs Palermo


11 Minutes: Vazquez takes the ball down on his chest and slips the ball between the 2 Center back to Dybala who latches on to it
and hits it, IT HITS POST, so close.


16 Minutes: Once again vaquez gets the ball 30 yards out, he takes it forward 5 yards... He strikes it! ITS IN. What a strike from Vaquez.


40 Minutes: Taider takes the ball and smacks it forward towards Berardi who knocks it down to Padion who HITS IT and It hits the crossbar.


Half Time: Palermo come in with a 1-0 lead but Sassulo have been dominated since the 17th minute.


71 Minutes: Zaza picks up the ball on the wing and goes past two men, whips the ball in and Berardi rises at the near post and SCORES.


90+3 Minutes: Dybala strikes one from 35+ yards and narrowly wide.


Sassulo 1-1 Palermo in a game Sassulo really should of won.


Well I am happy with a draw in a game we really should have lost and we were told we would lose but Nuella e Certo, Nothing is Certain.

 

[AidanD10]

October 29th 2014:
I sat in my office reviewing my first month of Football management in Italy, I had mixed views on how the month went as we did manage to grab ourselves 6 points from 3 games, however today is the big day, my biggest game so far of my time at Palermo.

Palermo Vs Lazio.


I sat was looking at sky sports to see the latest news and any build-up to my game, I looked at the last 5 results and was a confident of getting maybe something from this game.


Lazio 1-5 Inter Palermo 0-1 Napoli
Lazio 2-4 Juventus Palermo 1-1 Sassuolo
Lazio 1-1 Cesena Palermo 2-0 Parma
Lazio 1-1 Fiorentina Palermo 2-3 Empoli
Lazio 1-2 Atlanta Palermo 2-0 Cagliari


They had got 2 points from 5 games while we had 7 from 5 but I knew that they were obviously the better team but I was confident that we could maybe ****** ourselves a point.


2:30pm: We got off the bus outside the olimpico, we headed straight to the away dressing room, I had a minor change to the tactic that may either make or breake the team. I needed to tweak something so that we could gathered more points, I want Europa league football next season.


Team Sheet:

Ujkani
Gonzalez
Milanovic Andelkovic
Morganella Rispoli
Rigoni Chochev
Vazquez
Dybala Belotti


Pre-Match Predictions: Despite poor form of late I believe that Lazio will come away with the points here, the loss of Serrentino for Palermo will be a big loss.


Kick-off: And.. Lazio start us off here at the olimpico, we could be in for a superb game right here.


18 Minutes: A corner here for Lazio, Parolo whips in the corner and it bounces around the penalty spot. Keita breaks out with the
ball and lines up to hit it, a unbelievable last ditch challenge by chocev.


24 Minutes: Milanovic with the clearance which drops to Rigoni who flicks it on to Chochev, he jinks it past Pedro Obiang and slips it through to Belotti who looks to curl it into the far corner and he Hits the post... and has it crossed the line, No the official says
no and Berisha holds it. On second look Berisha made a fantastic finger tip save.


28 Minutes: The ball is thread through to Ederson who hits it and its blocked, corner now. Ederson will take it and he whips it into the area, Cana rises above his man and Scores. A fanstastic header by Cana. He lost his man perfectly then.


36 Minutes: Vazquez plays a one-two with Chochev who continues his run, Vazquez takes it past his opponent and whips in a cross, Chochev rises at the near post and SCORES. Great play, 1-1 now.


Half-time: It's 1-1 here and I can see this game going either way.


70 Minutes: Corner for Lazio. Ederson whips it in and its headered away by Gonzalez and drops to rigoni who hits a 40 yard ball over the top and Dybala is chasing it but he looks to have pulled up here. A hamstring problem could effect him and Palermo.


90+4 Minutes: The ball over the top by Candreva drop to Klose who strikes it and.. ITS IN, That must be the winning goal but on the far side the linesmen has his flag up and Klose was offside.


Full-Time: An interesting game here filled with plenty of chances and some superb goalkeeping.


I headed out of the stadium and re-entered my office, A email had come from my physio subjected Dybala Injury, I feared the worst, and the worst was dually delivered.


This is how the email read:


I regret to inform but Dybala suffered a hamstring injury in the last game Vs Lazio, He will be out of action for around 3 months.


3 MONTHS!?!?!?!?? Well that has just put a massive dent into my season and could effect me severely.

 

[AidanD10]

November 7th 2015:

I look back upon this month which was full of Ups and downs:


I wanted to focus on youth players as I knew we weren't the richest team I though we should bring up class players through our own youth system. We hired 5 new youth staff members and they have worked wonders for our youth team, we rose from 11th place to 4th. Our youth coach has turned a poor striker who would only have a future in Seria C into a out and out goal machine who could play for Seria A team in the future.


However we had bads point this month. Out of a possible 12 points we only picked up half winning 2 and lossing 2.


We grabbed 2 wins, one being a predicted win where we grabbed a nice 3-0 result and one being a superb 2-0 win against Inter. A real smash and grab win, we only had a quater of the shots Inter Milan did but we were more clinical.


However we also had 2 losses, one a truely destuctive, unexpected 6-0!!! Loss to SAMPDORIA!!! Sampdoria??, Okaka was all over my defence and on the day was a class above everyone on the pitch, the other loss coming at the end of the month against top of
the league, and title favourites Juventus where they grabbed a late goal through Matri to end our hopes of a point. Who knows if we had Dybala it could of been a whole different story.


I was deep in the mind breaking world of tactics when I was brought back to reality by the ring of my phone:


Cantini "Hello"


Iachini "Hello, Cantini, great to hear your voice"


Cantini "um...Ok and who is this"


Iachini " It's me Ianchini"


Cantini " Oh, its so great to hear from you, hows the knee"


Iachini "It's healing, I am ringing to congratulate you on your start to your Palermo career."


Cantini " Thanks, but its hardly been an superb start.


Iachini "Well you are 4 places above your predicted finish and only 4 points behind 3rd."


Cantini "Well I suppose so, well thank you for calling and great to hear from you."


Iachini " You too"


*Call Ended*


Well that was a surprise and has made me put a new spin on how the season it going. Hopefully we can have a successful December and maybe look to bring in a couple of signings in January.

 

[AidanD10]

January 25th 2015:

Misery, I was drowned in Misery, It had taken over me.


I was summoned to the board room, I knew what was going on, I didn't need the board to tell me, I didn't need anyone to tell me, I already knew. I needed to change this around, and SOON!


Zamparini "Welcome and thank you for coming to this meeting."

Cantini "Great to be here, well maybe not under these circumstances".

Zamparini "Ah, so you know why your here."

Cantini "Yeah, I know this needs to change, 6 losses on the bounce is 100% unacceptable and I promise to start picking up points soon."
Zamparini " Well it's nice to see we are on the same page, but I mean it's all well and good you promising points, but you need to deliver. and Soon"
Cantini "I understand this and I promise to do all in my power to get these."
Zamparini " I hope you do, you need 9 points from the next 5 games or I'm sorry, we need to release you and look for new manager.
Cantini "I understand and promise to deliver, well I better get going and sort out this team."
*I left the board room*
Back in my office I was reviewing the fixture list, our nrext five fixtures may be difficult ones.
Genoa Vs Palermo
AC Milan Vs Palermo
Torino Vs Palermo
Napoli Vs Palermo
Sassuolo Vs Palermo
9 points may be more difficult to come by, chances are we may struggle to pick up three points. Last time out we only pick up 6 points, so my career here at Palermo may be coming to a short and abrupt end.
I researched Genoa to see how they play, weak areas and where to exploit them, I read my scouts team report and compared to the one of my own team and 1 main thing stood out to me, Height, Our tallest striker,who is also our tallest player, has a good 10 or more centimeters on their defence, this could be exploited.
My next team sheet will be one to cause plenty of surprises.
My next 5 games will make or break me and my future.

 

[AidanD10]

15th January 2015:
Today is it, Napoli Vs Palermo, the most important game in my career, the game that could end me. It is here.
After the meeting with the board we agreed that I needed to get 9 points for 5 games, well since then 3 new games have passed and well, my fortunes have been everywhere.
We start off we a crushing 3-0 loss to Genoa, we tried to capatilise the height difference but there strongest attribute Pace, and lots of it. They capatilised on the counter and we lost a game I knew we needed to win.
Then off to the San Siro to face AC Milan, I knew this would be difficult and our defence stood strong for 90 minutes and we ended up picking up a point in a 0-0 draw.
After these 2 results I know I needed 3 wins from 3 to keep my career alive and the boys dually delivered, Torino were the vistors and within 40 minutes we have taken them apart, at half time we had a 3-0 lead and the defence stood strong to just protect it n the 2nd half.
That takes us up to today, Today I need a win Vs Napoli, Oh dear....
Pre match prediction: Well Palermo have been poor of late and I expect Napol to deliver a thrasing.
Kick-off: And we are off.....
12 Minutes: Higuain is in on goal, he steadies himself to shoot and he is brought down by Milanovic, Penalty to Napoli. Jorghinio steps up and 1-0 Napoli.
15 Minutes: Ball up the wing to Insigne who takes it inside and past two men with one touch, he takes it past another, steps it up for the shot and 2-0.
I only thought to myself, we are in for a long game.
Half time: Napoli have been absolute dominatant, Palermo have struggle to have a shot.
57 Minutes: Mertens is played over the top, he hits it.. 3-0, Too easy for Napoli.
Please end my nightmare, and now.
88 Minutes: Dybala knocks it over the top to Belotti to hit and Off the crossbar. Palermo's first shot of the game.
Full time: A dominatant win for Napoli and they deserve it.
I was instantly called the boardroom and knew what was happening, I was sacked. I left the Palermo stadium to boos from the fans, Dybala walked over and told me, it wasn't my fault and that he wishes me the best. This didn't help, back to unemployment, 0 chances,0 oppurtunities, plenty of new careers.
I decided to take a nose through some jobs and will continue to do this for a couple of weeks, if not I feel my time in football is up.