The Seahorses - A A.C Cesena Story

[leckuno]

I've been humming and hawing about what save I've wanted to get stuck into on the full release and I've finally settled on A.C Cesena who are now plying their trade in Serie C in Italy. They were playing in Serie C just 7 seasons ago and then they've had a bit of a fall going all the way down to Serie D before coming back up where they have spent the last 3 seasons.

Name: A.C Cesena
Nickname: The Seahorses, The White and Blacks
Stadium: Stadio Dino Manuzzi
Capacity: 23,900

Training Facilities: Good
Youth Facilities: Great
Junior Coaching: Good
Youth Recruitment: Adequate

Board Vision

The board aren't expecting too much thankfully with us needing to be promoted within 2 seasons and this year just needing to reach the play off which is just a top 10 finish which should be a walk in the park.

Supporter Vision

The supporters are expecting a wee bit more this season with them expecting automatic promotion. They have a low influence on the board though so it shouldn't be too bad as long as we keep them mostly happy

Squad

We have a decent sized squad at the club along with some very exciting young players who have come through the youth ranks at the club in the Shpendi twins and Nicolo Amadori who should give us some exciting attacking options over the next few years.

I look forward to getting started and getting this fallen club back to the top of Italian football​

 

[leckuno]

Transfers

We needed another couple of players in to try and strengthen a couple of positions and also allow us to try and develop some players for other clubs.

First in the door was Giacomo Faticanti from Roma on loan who can add something else to our midfield but will be a rotation option and hopefully can break his way into the first team.

Next we needed another LW so we went to England and signed Dara Costelloe from Burnley on loan who will be a back up LW and only called upon when needed this season.

Finally we signed Javier Belman on a free and he will become our starting Goalkeeper. He came through the ranks at Real Madrid and played the last two season in Laliga Smartbank so has room to grow as well

Tactic

With these signings confirmed this will be the preferred starting line up and tactic. We will be going with an attacking 4-3-3 where we will look to control possession and feed it up to our striker.

Expectations

Nothing too out of the ordinary thankfully and we'll be looking to push for the automatic promotion spot while also pushing for the cup as well.

September

We start the campaign off at home and I expect it to be a straightforward month with hopefully no slipups.
​

 

[leckuno]

September

Cesena v Olbia

What a start to our league campaign as we run riot while missing some players thanks to international games but Adamo really stood out down the right wing with 5 goals in the opening half hour. The king even got a goal on which will be a rare start up front as well

Citta di Pontedera v Cesena

With everybody back we were able to start the Shpendi twins as Crisitian got us off to a flier in the opening minute. His brother even managed an assist in the 2nd goal as well.

Cesena v Torres

3rd game in and the twins have both managed to get on the score sheet with Stiven even setting up his brother for his goal as well

Carrarese Calcio v Cesena

Stiven Shpendi is some player as he is going to be key for us down the left as he chips in with goals and assists. Its also key as we manage to keep another clean sheet to show how good Belman is going to be for us.

Cesena v Virtus Entella

Our wingers are just class as they chip in with another 2 goals as they are just a big step up for this league it seems.

League

We have opened up a 2 point lead but its the goal difference that sets us above the rest as we've managed to score 16 goals while conceding just 2

October

We've got 7 games this month thanks to the inclusion of the cup 1st round but I feel we have a good enough squad to be able to cope with anything that comes our way in terms of rotation​

 

[leckuno]

October

Alessandria v Cesena

Amadori is given a rare start to get some experience and he makes the step up brilliantly with a debut goal

Coppa Italia di Serie C First Round
Cesena v Foggia Calcio

Our first foray into cup football and we run riot as expected its just a shame we took to the 2nd half to get into proper gear though.

Cesena v Fermana

The Shpendi twins are both on the scoresheet again and assisted each other as well as they are setting up one **** of a partnership for us.

San Donato Tavarnelle v Cesena

We made some changes as we were against the team bottom of the league meaning Amadori got a chance again and he scored two great solo goals as he continues his development.

Cesena v Vis Pesaro

We really struggled here with Shpendi making the breakthrough but again our solid defence made all the difference though as it let us attack with confidence

Rimini Calcio v Cesena

In a repeat of the previous game a good defence let us attack in the 2nd half without fear of being hit on the counter

Imolese v Cesena

The same result but this time its Stiven Shpendi that gets the solo goal that gets us across the line.

League

We managed to go the whole month without conceding a goal to show how strong our back line and keeper are which is huge going forward for us. We now have a 7 point lead which I can't see us throwing away

November

We have the 2nd round of the cup to play this month which will be a focus as it already looks like we have the league tied up​

 

[leckuno]

November

Coppa Italia di Serie C Second Round
Renate v Cesena

Got to love when your youth player really takes their chances as Amadori keeps on scoring when given a start with a whopping 4 goals to see us into the next round.

Cesena v Fiorenzuola

This was a poor result for a number of reasons. The first being we dropped our first points of the season but secondly we actually conceded our first goals in 11 matches so hopefully we're not going to start conceding goals now.

AS Lucchese Libertas v Cesena

We're straight back to winning ways along with a clean sheet which is a good sign.

Coppa Italia di Serie C Third Round
Cesena v Padova

A solid performance in the cup against one of the better teams in Serie C as they lead Girone A so it gives us confidence we can beat the best teams at this level.

Cesena v AC Reggiana

The first loss was always going to come so its good to get that off our backs what what a final half hour as we got back into the game to then get a red card within the same minute which then cost us 7 minutes later when we were caught with a man short in defence as we were caught on the counter as we pushed for the win.

Recanatese v Cesena

Luckily the last result wasn't the start of something as we got off to a flying start in the 2nd minute before reaching a 3-0 lead just after half an hour before deciding to take our foot off the gas and sitting back.

Cesena v AC Siena

Against another former Serie A team here and a 2 goals in a minute is enough to end the month on a high

League

Well we dropped 5 points this month but it doesn't really have an impact on us at all as we still have a 12 point lead

December

A quitier month as the winter break comes into play at the end of the month but it will give our players some time off but we need to reach that point first.​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Flying start mate! Looking like you'll have this league wrapped up pretty easily at the moment

 

[leckuno]

Flying start mate! Looking like you'll have this league wrapped up pretty easily at the moment

Fingers crossed. Not had any real challenge yet this season so could be a big step up next season though

 

[leckuno]

December

AC Ancona v Cesena

The twins are a real force to be reckoned with and its going to be key to try and hold onto them over the coming seasons.

Coppa Italia di Serie C Quarter Final
Cesena v Monterosi

We came so close to throwing a 2-0 lead away and risk getting thrown out of the cup but Stiven Shpendi scores a cracker from just outside the box to send us to the semi final

Cesena v Montevarchi

We struggled to get any real chances in this game but Shpendi took one of the few chances we did get in the 21st minute for the only goal of the game.

Cesena v AS Gubbio

What a final 7 minutes of the game as we conceded and then had to throw the kitchen sink at them to score the equalise 2 minutes later.

Obina v Cesena

We got a fright here after Shpendi scored a great hat-trick to take us to a 3-0 lead before we let them right back into the game but thankfully Faticanti was able to seal the win for us with a minute to go.

League

Our lead stays at 17 points now that we're half way through the season

Transfers

We've got a couple of loan players that are being re-called by their teams due to them not getting enough game time so my hand was forced into signing a new winger so we snap up Adama Diakhaby on a free and he will be a back up but has plenty of experience from bigger leagues which will help our young players out

January

A cup semi final thrown into the mix here which will be our focus given our lead in the league as we want all the silverware we can get our hands on​

 

[leckuno]

January

Cesena v Citta di Pontedera

A routine win here thanks to the usual suspects who even managed to assist each other as well

Torres v Cesena

Another game here were we really didn't play well but we were able to do just enough in the final 5 minutes to get us the 3 points.

Coppa Italia di Serie C Semi Final 1st Leg
Novara v Cesena

A poor game here where we had to come from behind twice to be able to go into the 2nd leg with a chance.

Cesena v Carrarese Calcio

What an end to the game as it looked like we managed to throw away a 2 goal lead before Stiven Shpendi made a run right from the kick off and got the end of well placed pass to slot home for the win/

Virtus Entella v Cesena

A much better performance here as we were able to keep a clean sheet and score a few goals. Its great to win a game by 3 when Shpendi isn't one of the scores to see other people chipping in

League

The league is unofficially ours as we sit with a 21 point lead at the top and I don't see us throwing it away now.

Transfers

Within this window I thought it was key to offload some of the fringe players to free up wages but also just to reduce the overall squad size as we sold 7 players and let 1 go on loan.

I did decide to bring in one player right on deadline day as I still wanted another winger to add a bit of competition for our wingers and I went for Mattero Della Morte from Pro Vercelli as his contract was expiring but we snapped him up for £61,000 which is a great price for him.

February

A busy month with 7 games but the cup will be our focus here as we can afford to be loose with the league games​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Serie B coming your way!

 

[leckuno]

February

Cesena v Alessandria

What a debut from Della Morte as he scores the only goal of the game from cutting in off the left wing.

Fermana v Cesena

A tale of two halves here as we really struggled in the first half but after half time we came out a different team and ran riot.

Cesena v San Donato Tavarnelle

We got very lucky here thanks to a poor challenge as we tuck the penalty home before grinding out the rest of the game.

Coppa Italia di Serie C Semi Final 2nd Leg
Cesena v Novara

A much better result than the first leg here as we progress into the cup final

Vis Pesaro v Cesena

A routine win but the sending off will cost us in the next few games as we lose Ciofi to suspension.

Cesena v Rimini Calcio

What a game from Della Morte as he gets off to a great start with 2 goals in 2 minutes before rounding off the hat-trick in the 77th minute. Amadori also popped up with a great goal.

Cesena v Imolese

Della Morte is showing me made the right decision in signing him in January as he scores his 5th and 6th goals of the month for us here. But more importantly this win also brings us the title meaning we'll be in Serie B next season.

League

Well the title has been won so now its time to start building for next season.

Budget

Well we have a pretty poor transfer budget for next season but we have a £25k increase in the wage budget to start bringing in more experienced people.

March

With the league wrapped up its all about the cup final 1st leg this month.​

 

[leckuno]

March

Coppa Italia di Serie C Final First Leg
Cesena v Vis Pesaro

We got off to the best possible start thanks to a 5th minute penalty but it was a nervy final 40 minutes as the game ends with just a goal in it but we do have a slight advantage going into the 2nd leg.

Fiorenzuola v Cesena

We rotated the squad a bit here to give some squad players a chance but they sadly only managed to grind out a goalless draw as there weren't any stand out players

Cesena v AS Lucchese Libertas

What a game from Faticanti as he pulled all the strings from midfield and he scored two great goals from outside the area.

AC Reggiana v Cesena

A much better game as we run absolutely riot here as we have goals coming from all over park with some great team goals

Cesena v Recanatese

Chiarello seems to be really coming into his own in the second half of the season with really chipping in with a lot of goals

League

Youth Intake

Its the favourite time of the year as the intake comes in as we have a couple of young players who look like could one day make the first team.

Both players may look like they will be better being retrained as right wingers but we'll see what happens over the coming seasons with them

April

There is only one game we care about this month and its the 2nd leg of the cup final 2nd leg​

 

[leckuno]

April

AC Siena v Cesena

Della Morte to the rescue as he kept on fighting and scored two good solo goals to get us the 3 points

Cesena v AC Ancona

A really poor result here where we rotated the squad but at least we didn't lose

Coppa Italia di Serie C Final 2nd Leg
Vis Pesaro v Cesena

Our 3 best players have comfortably wrapped up the cup for us to make sure we complete the double.

Montevarchi v Cesena

This game was a lot more comfortable than the score suggests but it was poor to concede twice

AS Gubbio v Cesena

A nice easy win to finish of the season with Shpedni getting an excellent brace to see off his tally for the season

League

Well we won the league by a staggering 31 points and a goal difference of 74. If we can take that into next season we should avoid relegation but there will be a big step up

C Super Cup

Well at the end of the season the 3 winners of the Serie C leagues face off in the Super Cup as we made light work of them to be crowned champions for a nice wee treble​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Wow, what a season! After p1ssing Serie C so easily, I don't think you'll have to make massive changes to compete in Serie B!

 

[leckuno]

Wow, what a season! After p1ssing Serie C so easily, I don't think you'll have to make massive changes to compete in Serie B!

fingers crossed but we'll just need to wait and see

 

[leckuno]

Season 2

Transfers Out

We've tried to trim some of the fat at the club along with some of the aging players that we're never going to cut it for us going forward.

The biggest shock for us was that board decided to accept a bid for Nicolo Amadori without me getting a say in it to try and balance the books as we have lost a fair bit of money over the last season but the problem is they didn't reduce the transfer budget. We could be quids in though if he actually makes some appearances

After the sale of Amadori we're still £2.2million in the red which is worrying going forward if we want to try and compete

Transfers In

Marin Magdic

Magdic comes in on a free transfer and the Croatian looks like he will be a step up from our current defends this season

Dominik Plechaty

Another centre back to add a bit more quality and depth at the back as he jooins on a free transfer

Hans Nicolussi Caviglia

The central midfielder joins for just £69,000 from Juventus and he can have a bright future at the club and adds a lot of depth across the whole of the midfield with being able to play in a number of different positions

Franco Carboni

We needed a new starting left back this season and the young Argentinian joins us on loan from Inter Milan

Tomas Wiesner

The Czech international joins us on a free transfer and will provide competition for the RB position which we needed decent cover for.

Ze Carlos

Again a player that can cover a lot of positions but we will be utilizing him for his DM position as he joins on loan from AC Milan

Oscar Bobb

Bobb comes in just to act as cover for both the wings to add a bit more depth to the squad from Man City on loan

Valentin Carboni

We signed the other Carboni brother from Inter as well to enable us to change formations and play with an AMC as well

Maurice Krattenmacher

With Amadori leaving the club we needed another striker in and Krattenmacher fits the bill and again in on loan from Monchengladbach

Tommaso Berti

Berti was actually out on loan last season at Fiorentina and made 10 appearances so he's like a new player for us and will be thrown straight into our midfield this season

Friendlies

A solid round of friendlies which gave the players a good run out and let them start to gel together

Coppa Italia Preliminary Round
Cesena v Prescara Calcio

We really struggled here against Pescara but thankfully Shpendi was there to see us into the first round

Coppa Italia First Round
Salernitana Calcio v Cesena

Our first real test against a Serie A team and the Shpendi brother work together well to be able to see us through to the 2nd round.

Expectations

We aren't expected to do much in the league apart from avoid relegation which should hopefully be easy enough

August

The first two games of the season and the 2nd will be tough as we face newly relegated AC Monza​

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

Those look like some very decent signings for Serie B, there could be another promotion push this season

 

[leckuno]

Sadly this has died as the enjoyment went after the transfer window