ChristopherWH
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He looks fab, lots of potential, like you said!
Yes, one can only hope he fulfills my hopes!
U.S. Città di Palermo - La Cosa Nostra
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Yes, one can only hope he fulfills my hopes!
ChristopherWH
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February
Palermo 0 - 0 Parma
A dull game all through, I almost fell asleep watching the ball go outside the post everytime someone tried to shoot.
Well, not everytime. The two best players this game were the goalkeepers and Areola got the MoM award with a 7.8 score. Well done for such a young keeper and he's gotten some first team experience this season. It'll do him good in the long run.
Cagliari 1 - 3 Palermo
Abel Hernández (18, 37)
Daniele Dessena (43)
Ezequiel Muñoz
Another good game by Abel, and another two goals. Verratti managed to get yet another assist and is climbing the point table in the league, another good thing.
We won away from home again and we are in great shape at the moment with a five game streak of no losses, consistency!
Palermo 4 - 0 Napoli
Giovanni Cristofari (3)
Abel Hernández (7, 18)
Josip Ilicic (83)
Now that's what I'm talking about!
A great win in the first Semi Final Leg in the Coppa.
Napoli never stood a chance and we outmanouvered them in every aspect of the game.
Cristofari got his first goal as well, early on with a splendid freekick, great!
What can I say about Abel? He's in monster form at the moment and I don't know who can stop him.
Ilicic keeps getting an odd goal every now and then as well.
Palermo 1 - 0 Chievo
Abel Hernández (59)
A bit more sublte win, but three points none the less.
We had the game under controll mostly and after the goal they only had a few more chances. It's always a bit scary against Chievo though, I have nightmares about Pellissier every now and then, a great goal scorer that man. But now Hernández is above him in the scoring charts, tough luck oldie.
Fiorentina 1 - 0 Palermo
Amauri (70)
A terrible mistake by Viviano let them score. Cassani, our player really, did good and got the MoM award after the game. Giroud was out injured and Di Vaio didn't score when he got the chance, as usual...
Our run came to and end at last but our spirit is not completely broken, it was just one game after all. And we were unlucky to get away without any points, but Viola is always a tought team to visit, so better luck next time I guess.
Palermo 3 - 0 Bologna
Abel Hernández (12, 25, 60)
A hat-trick! By whom you say? Well Abel Hernández of course!
He completely decimated Bologna practically on his own, well Verratti and Balzaretti helped out with the assists but still.
He won The Serie A Young Player of the Year award in December and if he keeps this up he might even make a run for the big guys award.
Abel Hernández - A new fan favorite at "La Favorita" after being in great goal scoring form
Due to me being a bit eager after Hernández last performance I played another game by mistake, so here is the first game of March.
Siena 2 - 3 Palermo
Erjon Bogdani (15)
Josip Ilicic (19, 30)
Olivier Giroud (40)
Mattia Destro (81)
A close one, result wise. But actually we had most of the ball and most of the chances.
Great to see Giroud score his first Serie A goal today, hopefully he can get going now with the scoring to help Abel a little. Ilicic did great as well and is picking up yet another two goals, he's really starting to grow on me.
A great goal by their Mattia Destro though, a player I have my eyes on to buy after the season when he goes back to Genoa after his loan spell is over. Hopefully no big team swoops in and steals him from infront of my nose, hopefully for their sake...
We have been working on our climbing skills the last couple of months and behold we are now in fifth place!
Some other good news is that Juventus is actually slipping, and are no longer impossible to reach, they are still occupying that fantastic third place but we sure will make them fight for it.
We still got a pretty terrible goal difference though, but lately we have been starting to score a bit more and concede a bit less, so it might improve as well. Which is important, in case we need it when the season is over.
It sure is lovely to see Hernández on top of that chart, and hopefully we can keep him there, much with Verratti's help. He is in 7th place of the assist chart but didn't make this screen with his 6 assists.
Another thing to note is how good passing feet some of the Roma players have, wow, all top three places.
Mexés being up there in the Red Cards division is nothing that shocks me really.
You can see why Inter has only conceded 13 goals soo far in the league as well, damned Lúcio.
Some player improvements in our team, I choose the two most prominent ones.
I've put Abel Hernández on a schedule to improve his finishing as well as his technique and speed. All of which he has improved on in the last few months. Nice to see him getting a bit better at his work rate and team work as well, attributes I value highly.
Verratti is the other one I've picked. He's in a good form now and has done well many games in a row, even starting to get some points to his name. Improving his passing game as well as his physique is proving to be a very good thing indeed. I'd still like to see his passes and first touch get better though. It'll be needed if he is to be the next great Italian midfielder a la Andrea Pirlo.
ChristopherWH
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Great month! Hernandez is on fire! I reckon he'll get to the magic 30 goal mark if he keeps this up!
Roma seem like they love their passing. Playing like Barca but performing like Liverpool!
30 goals will be a bit too hard I recon. But hopefully a bit past 20 and an award for most goals scored in the league.
Too bad Giroud haven't really picked up any goal form though, maybe next season.
ChristopherWH
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March
Palermo 0 - 3 Roma
Juan (19)
Simon Kjaer (33)
Simone Perrotta (85)
A devestating defeat. 12-5 in shots to our advantage, they managed to score the only three times they were on target though, while we didn't.
Hernández was out injured while Giroud picked up an injury, I'm blaming it on the fact that our squad isn't powerfull enough up front, not when the two main men are out at least.
Also their first two goals came on corners, annoying as ****. We have to practice our set-pieces defending a bit more.
Inter 1 - 2 Palermo
Yuto Nagatomo Red Card (23)
Diego Forlán (24)
Abel Hernández (32)
Josip Ilicic (62)
A very important win against the league leaders. With not that many games left we have to keep fighting to not lose ground, with all three Italian power houses left we have our work cut out for us, but now one of them are beaten.
We are going to give it our all to reach that 3rd Champions League spot, no matter what the "experts" think is possible!
Palermo 2 - 1 Juventus
Abel Hernández (2)
Mirko Vucinic (11)
Olivier Giroud (21)
And there is the second one! Another 2-1 win against one of the strongest teams in the league, this put us up ahead of them in the third place position. Good to see the Giroud-Hernández team work at it's best. They both assisted eachother for the goals and they were our best players this game. It feels nice to say that it wasn't luck that put us through today but we actually played better than Juventus.
Napoli 1 - 2 Palermo
Ezequiel Lavezzi (15)
Josip Ilicic (24)
Giovanni Cristofari (29)
After the first game I was pretty confident that we would go through to the finals. But you should never assume anything in football, and Napoli sure put up a fight but as soo many times before this season they were impotent in front of goal and didn't manage to put the ball in the net at the chances they got, and they got more than we did.
Our only two shots on goal were able to sneak past Rosati in the Napoli goal with ease.
Pansieri
As the end of the season draws closer by the day, it's good to see that our performances are only getting better and better for every game. The fans have a new favorite in Abel Hernández who has been here for a few seasons but are now finally starting to show his true potential as a star forward in Europe. With the backing of Verratti, Ilicic and Giroud I'd say we have a pretty strong offensive if all our players are fit. The problem is when they are not, the substitutes we have are of the weaker sort, or players in the making, not fit for this level just yet. Especially when the pressure is this high on them, as every game counts.
Even though the defensive line is rather young and unexperienced I feel they have done fairly decent recently, with Muñoz putting in some good efforts every now and then, even though he can be rather inconsistent. In him and Giuseppe Prestia we have a pair of defenders who will hopefully act as a wall in front of our goal in the future. Prestia whom my staff sees as one of the brightest talents in the whole of Italy at the moment, especially in his position. Earlier this year both Milano clubs were after him but I turned them down with not as much as a glance on their offers.
I've been having a bit of a trouble in some of the away games with my travels. The police and media are a bit too obvious with their surveillance and it's hard to even enjoy a glas of wine and a good meal out with their cameras and eyes directed at me from afar.
The ladies do not seem to mind though. I guess they enjoy the time in the spot light. Truth is, they're not going to get much attention from me when I leave the town again, they're just for fun.
That's one thing I've been a bit liberal about, and it has worked out well soo far, that the players are not forbidden to take girls to their rooms. The only thing I forbid are drugs, legal and otherwise unless subscribed to them, and alcohol.
Love and calcio goes together, so I think it'll only give them more passion in the games ahead.
Well I'm off to have dinner with signorina Stefanía Fernández. Salute!
Stefanía Fernández - Former Miss World winner has been seen being romantic with Palermo boss Vincenzo Motisi
ChristopherWH
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Doumbia was nothing like the player I wanted.
I was looking for a target player and didn't find anyone better and willing to come to Palermo.
ChristopherWH
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The End of the Season
Novara 2 - 1 Palermo
Giuseppe Mascara Penalty (9)
Fabrizio Miccoli (17)
Michel Morganella (37)
A loss to Novara... What is there to say? This should never happen, we are soo much better than them and still they outplayed us.
I am terribly disappointed with the whole team. We are closing in on the end here and we cannot afford to lose games like this.
Palermo 1 - 0 Lecce
Federico Balzaretti (86)
Came close to losing points against a weak side yet again. Luckily Balzaretti thought it was a good time to score his first goal for the season, three much needed points in a game we had to win to stay in touch with the top.
Catania 0 - 2 Palermo
Abel Hernández (1)
Andrea Mantovani (51)
A win for us in di Sicilia Derby. Yet again we were on the back foot, but indecisive Catania strikers let us have this one.
We have Viviano to thank, he did really good today between the posts.
Palermo 0 - 1 Udinese
Emmanuel Badu (61)
For the first time in quite a few games we were the dominant ones, this time against a Champions League spot contender, but of course this one we lost. Their single shot on goal went in and our strikers ran around like idiots never even being close to scoring.
Will this be the game that lost us the 3rd place to Udinese?
Genoa 3 - 1 Palermo
Alberto Gilardino (10, 55)
André Senghor (59)
Abel Hernández (90+2)
A tight game and still we were utterly crushed by Gilardino.
And while their offense scored, their defense did a good job at keeping us at bay, until the very last second that is, but what difference does it make at that point?
Verratti has shown some weak *** performances as of late, is the pressure to much for him now that we are fighting for something important?
Cesena 1 - 1 Palermo
Giovanni Cristofari (38)
Adrian Mutu (45+2)
Third time in a row that we are losing points now, if it weren't for both Roma and Udinese doing the same, we would already be ruled out of the 3rd place.
I have my doubts now though, with this form it's just not looking all that bright.
Take in mind that we have a cup final to play as well and our players, as the squad is soo thin, will be exhausted from all the games.
Finale Coppa Italia
40.000 fans at Olimpico as the Coppa Italia finale is starting between last years finale losers, Palermo, and two time winners Bologna. The arena is boiling with anticipation.
The game starts off at a high tempo with favorites Palermo keeping possesion of the ball.
They only manage to get one shot on goal until Balzaretti gets the ball after a bad clearing from Bologna defenders.
He dribbles his man and rushes down towards the line and just as he is about to get out of bounds, he crosses and hits Giroud right in the forehead. This Giroud who came to Palermo in an expensive signing earlier this year hasn't really proven himself worth all the money.
Until now that is as he skillfully heads the ball straight down and to the opposite corner of where he's standing.
As Gillet, the Bologna keeper, is moving towards Giroud in the first place, he had no chance to change his momentum and throw himself in the other direction.
0-1 with Palermo in the lead after 5 minutes!
The game continued in the same fashion, with Palermo being the attacking team and Bologna being way too slow when they had the ball. It only took half an hour for Giroud to pay back Palermo some more.
In the 35th minute Hussain got the ball from Hernández as he had his back against the goal and a defender a bit too close for comfort. With a nice first touch from Etzaz he put the ball to his right off-foot, but even soo he made a terrific through ball that sliced the Bologna defence and found it self at the feet of the french towering striker, and he showed decisiveness in his finishing as he powered it past Gillet who was without a chance.
With a two goal lead in the break Palermo came out confident while Bologna, who one could hope would be fired up, looked gloomy as if they had given up. They might as well have because the second half was all about solid defending on Palermo's part with the odd chance here and there, and Bologna passing the ball to the wrong players time and time again.
As the whistle blows the Palermo players and staff run towards the Palermo fans curva and starts celebrating with the fans. This is their first top teir title ever. Well done Palermo, well done Giroud and well done Vincenzo Motisi!
Bologna 0 - 2 Palermo
Olivier Giroud (5, 35)
With my first title at the club, I can't even care about the games before this, no matter where we finish in the league this is a terrific season for us and no one would've expected us to take any title at all!
Olivier Giroud - Shooting Palermo too Coppa Italia Campiones
Palermo 3 - 1 Lazio
Josip Ilicic (58)
Olivier Giroud Penalty (62)
Abel Hernández (75)
Hernanes Penalty (89)
This win meant a lot, this gave us the chance to take the third spot in the league all by our own device.
We have the toughest last game of our competitors though as we are facing off against A.C. Milan.
After a slow first half we finally got some goals and I'm all happy about it, the late conceded penalty was a stupid move by youngster Acquah though, he'll learn from his mistakes, I hope.
A.C. Milan 3 - 1 Palermo
Philippe Mexés (14, 41)
Marco Verratti Red Card (38)
Matías Silvestre (63)
Robinho (73)
The last game of the season and a very important one to boot. A.C. Milan had nothing to play for and decided to rest some players, it didn't help us much though (I think) as they still totally dominated us. A stupid challenge from Verratti early on earned him his second yellow and I'm truly disappointed in him after this. A game like this you can't afford to be juvenile and stupid.
I can't even talk about it without my whole face flaring up!
Udinese managed to get a draw in the 84th minute by grandpa Antonio Di ******* Natale. Splendid, there went our Champions League dreams out the window.
**** it.
Pansieri
Now some time after my rage outburst in the last league game, I can honestly say that I look back at this season with a smile on my lips. We achieved the best position ever in the league by Palermo by finishing fourth, and that's after already securing oursleves a spot in Europa League for next season by winning(!!!) coppa Italia.
Some ups and downs with some great performances against teams such as Inter and Juventus in the middle of the season, mixed in with some disasppointing defeats against Novara and the like.
All in all I'm happy though, and most of the players are as well. But now, now it's time to get rid of much deadwood in the team, and there are quite many of those. All while trying to get some depth to the squad to allow me to rotate some more next season.
I might even look for some wingers to let us mix up our game a bit more.
There you can see our best eleven of this past season, as well as my formation, I haven't showed it before I realize now.
And there you have the Serie A team of the season.
Considering the names in that team I'm really happy that we have two fellows in there, very well done by them!
There you have the league table and the player statistics from the last season. As anyone would've guessed, Hernández was by far our best player. He is getting a raise and a new contract first thing after the budget for the next season is set.
The results of the Euro Cup 2012 in Poland/Ukraine.
A remarkable winner in Russia after beating Holland and France on their way to the gold.
Giroud were in the French team and acted as a backup for Benzema, he did come on atleast one time but didn't manage to score.
Well that's all for this season, I hope you have enjoyed it, even though there haven't been that many people commenting, perhaps it's no good?
Well hopefully more will follow and comment in the next season. Now I'm off to scout transfer targets!
Ciao!
ChristopherWH
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Paul0
Haha yes I'm just glad he did something to make it worth the money I spent on him.
Hopefully he'll improve with the whole team next year. I'll try to bring in some wingers so I can get some more crosses in for him to work with.
Greggylad
Oh thank you very much!
Oh I'll try. I'm forming an interesting squad for the next season as I speak, I just hope it wont flop.
Haha yes I'm just glad he did something to make it worth the money I spent on him.
Hopefully he'll improve with the whole team next year. I'll try to bring in some wingers so I can get some more crosses in for him to work with.
Greggylad
Oh thank you very much!
Oh I'll try. I'm forming an interesting squad for the next season as I speak, I just hope it wont flop.
ChristopherWH
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Only the top three European leagues get 4 spots. Germany took Serie A's place due to German teams performing better in Europa League and Champions League.
Yeah a bit weird with Russia.
ChristopherWH
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A New Season
Transfers
Out
In
Many changes this season, almost a completely new team!
As I mentioned in the end of the last season, I was looking for a new style of play with wingers around.
First I decided I wanted wonderkid Gökhan Töre, sure he was expensive as **** but hopefully he's worth it, full of talent that Turk.
I also managed to sign El Shaarawy from A.C. Milan and Genoa, so now I have two great talents and players for the future on the wings, but I was not content so I also got Inter's Rodrigo Alborno.
Oh and I made Juventus an offer they could not refuse, €550K for Simone Pepe, what the **** are they stupid or what?
I'm glad to have signed Mattia Destro as well since neither Miccoli nor Di Vaio proved to be good reserves last season, hoepfully he can play well so I can rotate him Giroud and Hernández.
Morgan De Sanctis came in from relegated Napoli because I needed an experienced goalie after Inter bought our 50% of Viviano.
The last player to come in was greek defender Papastathopoulos (I will never type down his name even if he scores a hat-trick... haha) who is now our star defender, better than both Silvestre and Muñoz.
Inter 4 - 3 Palermo
Simone Pepe (22)
Diego Milito (27, 53, 85)
Matías Silvestre Red Card (42)
Abel Hernández (45)
Federico Balzaretti (83)
Javad Nekounam Red Card (102)
Wesley Sneijder (105)
Idiot piece of **** moron *** hole Silvestre who in the mid cirkle charged at an Inter player from behind, of course he's getting a red card that ******* jerk off!
Phew...
Too many conceded goals, I did not enjoy our defending at all, mind you that "Papa" hadn't joined us yet at this time.
Well it wasn't the most important title out there but still, I want to win everything! Better luck next time I guess.
FC Vaslui 1 - 6 Palermo
Abel Hernández (12, 75, 90+2)
Nicolae Tothãzan (40)
Simone Pepe (42)
Ezequiel Filippetto O.G. (58)
Olivier Giroud (62)
Palermo 4 - 0 FC Vaslui
Ezequiel Muñoz (14)
Abel Hernández (18)
Mattia Destro (45)
Sokratis Papastathopoulos (75)
Okey so I typed out his name again, big deal!
We did better than last year, if we hadn't I think some "accidents" might've occured in the near vicinity of me and the referees in these games.
But now we totally demolished poor Vaslui. Simone Pepe is playing very well, and Mattia Destro got his first goal already, well done lads.
We got seeded into Group H
Sporting are a very good team and Brügge might upset, against Trnava we should get 6 points though. Come on now, cheer us on, we can do this!
That was it for this month but in the next month the league starts up again and we are starting off against Juventus at home, brilliant!
I'd appreciate some comments on the transfers I made ahead of this season, critique as well as praise if there is any.
Ciao!
ChristopherWH
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Yay! Into the Europa League for once!
Tore seems pricey, but hopefully he can repair his price tag!
He's started off well with 3 assists in 2 games!