Storia di tutti i giorni: Foggia Calcio

[LucasGills]

Foggia Calcio Season 2002-2003 Serie C1/B March 2003

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Matches played this month

Avellino 3
Foggia 1

2nd March 2003, Stadio Partenio, Avellino - League match

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Goals: Pellicori (23, 90), Trezzi (26); Salvagno o.g. (41)
Report: Foggia suffered their first defeat since mid-December and only the third this season against an Avellino team who proved too tough a nut to crack. Although the Satanelli finished with more scoring chances, they were outplayed for large parts of the game and the hosts merited their victory. The Campanians scored twice in quick succession in the middle of the first half through Alessandro Pellicori and Carlo Trezzi and though Salvagno diverted a De Zerbi freekick into his own net, they reached the break in front. In the second half Foggia tried hard to find an equaliser but they found a very determined Andrea Armellini in front of them. The veteran keeper saved everything they threw at him and finished the game with a 9, only beaten to the man of the match award by Pellicori. Indeed the young striker scored a brace, definitely killing the game when he put a freekick past Efficie in the dying minutes. To compound a miserable day, both De Zerbi and Greco sustained inujuries and Quaresmini was sent off for pushing an opponent in the chest !

Spoiler!

Foggia 1
L'Aquila 0

5 March 2003, Stadio Pino Zaccheria, Foggia - League match

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Goals: Matys (8)
Report: L'Aquila had just beaten Torres the previous Sunday and it was important to react after the Avellino defeat. Locatelli was rested for this game, with Di Toro taking his place in the DMC spot. Young attacking midfielder Kevin Frank was also given his chance in the absence of De Zerbi, Greco and Quaresmini. Foggia started well and Matys opened the score after a mere 8 minutes, heading in brilliantly a cross from Ferrari. 3 minutes later the same Matys got his head to a cross from Torricelli but this time the post saved the visitors. Unfortunately this bright start came to a halt when Di Toro picked up his second yellow after 14 minutes and was rightly sent off by the referee. From then on it was essentially a matter of holding the score and that's what we did, restricting L'Aquila to 5 shots on goal, none on target. Locatelli was named man of the match despite playing only the last 45 minutes, demonstrating once again how important he is to the team.

Spoiler!

Cagliari 1
Foggia 0

9 March 2003, Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari - League match

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Goals: Stellini (51)
Report: The Sardinians battered us in the first half, forcing the team to switch to a more defensive approach. Without our suspended skipper Torricelli, Efficie had plenty of work and it was a little miracle that we reached the break level. It was not enough though and Cagliari eventually opened the score 6 minutes after the restart. It came after Efficie had pushed superbly into corner a shot by O'Neill. The same player took it and Stellini jumped higher than Catalano to head the ball past the Satanelli keeper. After that Foggia reverted to a more attacking style and they had their chance, testing Panatanelli a couple of times and even hitting the post by Pazienza on the 73th. To be fair, Cagliari could also have doubled their lead on a few occasions and so the final 1-0 result was quite logical in the end.

Spoiler!

Foggia 5
Alzano 0

16 March 2003, Stadio Pino Zaccheria, Foggia - League match

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Goals: Matys (1), Pivotto (3), Eshun (11, 33) Zanutto (22)
Report: Two-nil up after 3 minutes, five to the good at the break: the least you could say is that there was some reaction after the Cagliari defeat. Alzano were third in the table before this game but they were powerless to stop the Satanelli furia. It was Polish striker Matys who opened the scoring, volleying a Pazienza cross past the unfortunate Cecere. Pivotto and Zanutto then both benefited from good corners by Locatelli to head home and Eshun was his opportunistic self, ending his goal drought with a brace. The second half was rather uneventful so that the score remained unchanged: 5-0 for the Apulians.

Spoiler!

Arezzo 0
Foggia 4

16 February 2003, Stadio Communale, Arezzo - League match

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Goals: Eshun (18, 40), Matys (53), Pazienza (75)
Report: Alzano were last in the table and it showed: they tried hard but were nonetheless well beaten in front of their own tiffosi. Eshun scored his second consecutive brace in the first half before Matys and Pazienza added to the hosts misery with two more goals after the break. De Zerbi was back in form, with two assists to his name while Matys confirmed his improvement of late with a well taken headed goal.

Spoiler!

Foggia 3
Chieti 1

30 March 2003, Stadio Pino Zaccheria, Foggia - League match

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Goals: De Zerbi (7,65), Matys (28)
Report: Foggia realised an excellent operation by beating second-placed Chieti after a highly entertaining game. The only downside was injuries to both Pazienza and Pivotto, two in-form players of late. De Zerbi scored the first goal early on, taking a good pass from Pinto and slotting the ball under Furlan, Chieti's goalkeeper. Matys then doubled the lead from close range after an Eshun shot was blocked. Chieti regrouped however and Efficie had to dive at full stretch to save a header from Tacchi. Unfortunately for the veteran keeper, the ball fell to De Simone who had the simple taks of tapping it in. The last chance of the first half was for Eshun but his header was saved in style by Furlan. Chieti pushed hard after the tea and Efficie made a number of important saves. Ferrari came on for Chiecchi, then Catalano replaced the injured Pazienza and the match evened itself again. And after 65 minutes, in a repeat of the first goal, Pinto hit the ball towards De Zerbi in the area and the Foggia maestro took it on the half volley to score his tenth goal of the season. The last opportunity was for Chieti but again Efficie saved well to earn his team their 20th win in 28 games.

Spoiler!

Table at the end of the month

A whopping six games were played this month and, despite losing two of them, our lead at the top of the table is now 14 points.

Martina have replaced Alzano in the playoff places but otherwise the table is mainly unchanged. Despite beating us, Cagliari are still only 6th, with 6 matches to be played.

Crotone continued their good form and are now outside the relegation zone, with a cushion of 4 points over fellow promoted team Fidelis Andria.

Key points

The high number of games we had to play this month took his tally, with a lot of injuries and suspensions among our players.

Eshun found back his scoring shoes after a seven games goal drought and Matys started to find the net more regularly.

A special mention goes to 35 years old Antonio Efficie who had to step up again after Botticella's loan ended and who performed brilliantly between the sticks.

Team news

Nothing special to report this month aside the fact that Pivotto is now out injured for one month and Pazienza for three weeks.

Finances

Erm...

[samsami]

Erm is the word

Your team are becoming a little careless but then they bounce back again. Promotion is all but secured already.

[LucasGills]

Erm is the word

Your team are becoming a little careless but then they bounce back again. Promotion is all but secured already.

Calgiari were the best team we faced this season, it was the first time we had to abandon our attacking style.

Yeah promotion seems almost clinched.

[Redknapp69]

Surprised Cagliari are not doing better - in financial trouble and maybe sold any decent players?

Mixed month but came back very strong after some dodgy results

Promotion party getting booked soon

[LucasGills]

Surprised Cagliari are not doing better - in financial trouble and maybe sold any decent players?

Indeed their financial state is listed as "insecure". They finished last in Serie B the previous season.

I don't know most of their players but judging by the game they gave us in Sardinia they should do much better than sixth.

Mixed month but came back very strong after some dodgy results

Promotion party getting booked soon

Yeah good reaction from the lads after these two defeats. We had a lot of injuries and suspensions though and the squad is relatively thin.

[LucasGills]

Foggia Calcio Season 2002-2003 Serie C1/B April-May 2003

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Matches played this month

Fidelis Andria 1
Foggia 1

2nd April 2003, Stadio Degli Ulivi, Andria - League match

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Goals: Zaminga (47); Eshun (57)
Report: Fellow promoted team Fidelis Andria, who were deep in the relegation zone, gave us a good fight at Degli Ulivi and in the end fully merited their point. Chiecchi replaced the injured Pivotto in central defense and the young man struggled due to his lack of competition. Pazienza was also out injured, with Massimo Orlando taking his place in midfield. Orlando is a mystery, having recently gone from one of our best performers to a barely average player. Here again he had to be substituted early on after a poor showing. Fortunately for us Eshun is in flamboyant form again and it was he who equalised with a header at the 57th to cancel Zaminga's first half goal. De Zerbi had a couple of opportunities but the Foggia maestro had a bad day at the office and squandered them all.

Spoiler!

Foggia 3
Taranto 3

5 April 2003, Stadio Pino Zaccheria, Foggia - League match

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Goals: Eshun (3, 86), De Zerbi (18); Migogna (26), Chiarini (50), Maspero (69)
Report: This was a wild game that swung from one side to the other and yielded no less than six goals evenly distributed. Foggia took an early two goals lead through Eshun and De Zerbi but Taranto fought back and after halving their deficit at the 26th they equalised five minutes after the break. Sensing the frailties in the local defense, they kept on pushing and, just as De Zerbi had been stretchered off with yet another injury, they took the advantage after 69 minutes thanks to a direct freekick from Maspero. The Satanelli threw everything they had left in the battle and were dully rewarded six minutes to the end when Eshun launched into a powerfull solo run, evading two defenders on his way before rifling the ball low past the Taranto keeper. The last chance was for the visitors but Efficie made a brilliant save to deny Giovanni Pompei and earn his team a point.

Spoiler!

Giulianova 1
Foggia 2

13 April 2003, Stadio Rubens Fadini, Giulianova - League match

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Goals: Ellia (82); Greco (2), Eshun (23)
Report: Giulianova were second in the table at this point. As it was, a win for Foggia in this match would give them the title. And it started well: after a mere 2 minutes Greco who was just returning from injury powered a header past Bucchi following a corner by Locatelli. The hosts tried to react and Efficie was called into action but, after 23 minutes, Locatelli took another corner and Eshun raised the highest to head the ball firmly into the net. In the second half the Satanelli had numerous chances to kill the game but a combination of poor finishing and Bucchi's heroics in goal meant they remained under the threat of a Giulianova return. And in fact it almost happened, Firmino Elia smashing the ball low past Efficie in the 82th. This time however the Foggia defense held firm and the Apulians could celebrate a new title and a second consecutive promotion !

Spoiler!

Foggia 3
Benevento 1

20 April 2003, Stadio Pino Zaccheria, Foggia - League match

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Goals: Eshun (30), Frank (43), Quaresmini (87); Chiecchi o.g. (72)
Report: A good home win against a team still fighting for a playoff place. The score could even have been bigger, Benevento notably scoring with their only shot on target. It was a great day for the home fans however, for it was the first chance they had to celebrate the title and seven goals were scored (three were disallowed, two from Eshun alone). They also had the pleasure to see the first senior goal of young Belgian/Spanish forward Kevin Frank and a rare goal from Andrea Quaresmini. And as is custom this season, Robert Eshun got his name on the scoresheet as well, scoring the ever important opening goal.

Spoiler!

Cosenza 3
Foggia 2

27 April 2003, Stadio San Vito, Cosenza - League match

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Goals: Baldi (13), Zampagna (64), Lentini (86); Eshun (21, 44)
Report: A great match for the neutrals, with no less than 18 shots, 5 goals and the lead swinging several times between two teams with different agendas. Indeed Cosenza were fighting for a playoff place and they gave the Apulians a hard time. They opened the score at the quarter through Michele Baldi then, after two goals from Eshun had reversed the score, they managed to equalise against the run of play just after the hour mark. And as the game was heading for a logical draw, former Torino legend and most expensive player in Italy when he transfered to Milan, Gianluigi Lentini, found himself at the reception of a good cross from Paschetta and fired the third goal of his team past Efficie.

Spoiler!

Foggia 3
Torres 0

4 May 2003, Stadio Pino Zaccheria, Foggia - League match

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Goals: Traversa (34), Eshun (63), Pivotto (90)
Report: For their last game of the season, Foggia hosted Torres who had long been leading the table but had now only an outside chance of reaching the playoffs. Their hopes lasted for one hour, until Eshun scored his 30th goal of the season to double his team lead. Fullback Martino Traversa had opened the score in the first half, benefiting from a good through ball from Locatelli. Eshun scored another one after 52 minutes but the referee ruled it out for a dubious offside position from the Ghanaian striker. And Pivotto added a third in the last minute, heading in a corner taken by Locatelli.

Spoiler!

We were surprised after this game to learn that we had earned (no money, no) the right to play an additional game, against the champion of the other C1 group, Ligurian outfit Spezia Calcio.

This so-called "C1 Super Cup" was, for whatever reason, to be played at our own Pino Zaccheria ground two weeks after the season end.

Mind you, Spezia had managed to perform even better than us, finishing with 85 points (compared to our 75) in a group featuring violet giants Fiorentina, Genoa and Padova:



Foggia 1
Spezia 0

18 May 2003, Stadio Pino Zaccheria, Foggia - C1 Super Cup

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Goals: Eshun (20)
Report: Who else than Robert Eshun could score the last goal of the season and the only goal of the game ? In an otherwise rather dull game, the Ghanaian striker converted one of the two chances he got to earn his team the highly coveted trophy. A very polished defensive performance then enabled Foggia to quietly control the rest of the game, keeping the Ligurian strikers at bay and threatening several times to score a second goal. And so at the end of the ninety minutes, vice-captain Roberto De Zerbi (skipper Moreno Torricelli had to left the field injured after 20 minutes) could lift the cup and bring a close to another highly successful season.

Spoiler!

Table at the end of the month

The last seven games yielded four victories, two draws and one defeat which is good considering we were already champions with three games to play.



Cagliari finished like a bullet, winning six of their last seven games to reach second place. They then defeated Cosenza and Chieti in the playoffs to follow us to Serie B.

At the other end of the table, there was relegation for Arezzo, Sambenedetese and Fidelis Andria who had just been promoted with us.

Key points

Eshun incredibly scored at least one goal in each of the seven games we played. He finished with 31 league goals, eleven more than second placed Mirko Pagliarini of Crotone.

In the same time, Locatelli gave 5 assists (12 in total this season) in addition to his excellent defensive work.

Team news

A lot of players played their last game for Foggia, be it that their contracts are running out or that they're not wanted anymore. Among them we have quite a few high earners like Greco (49.5k per month), Orlando (34), Catalano (25.5) or Quaresmini (15.7).

Finances

While some were lucky...

...we are still heavily in debts despite our two consecutive promotions:

[Redknapp69]

Real decent end to the season

Eshun - can I see his profile att's please?

Some ole familar names leaving the club - we wish them well and helped you on the journey

Nice that you won the "extra" game

Financial situation

You have amazed by by completely dominating this league - surely next season will be tougher

Doing a great job

P.S - I was in Milan for 2 days this week - just got back home. My work colleagues support AC and very frustrated at the moment!

[LucasGills]

Real decent end to the season

Eshun - can I see his profile att's please?

Some ole familar names leaving the club - we wish them well and helped you on the journey

Nice that you won the "extra" game

Financial situation

You have amazed by by completely dominating this league - surely next season will be tougher

Doing a great job

Yeah the last games were rather fun, with a lot of goals. Not impressed with our defense though

Here's Eshun's stats screen:



Nothing particularly standing out, apart maybe Jumping 19 and Off the ball 17. I had never heard about the guy before, neither in the game nor IRL so I'm grateful my scouts found him out.

Of all the players who will leave this summer, I'll mainly regret Orlando even if his last performances were below par. The guy was simply sublime at times, with his mazy runs from deep.

Financial situation is catastrophic, even if we managed to reduce our losses by 2 Mio this year compared to last year.

I have to say I'm not sure I'll go on with this story if there's no takeover during the summer. I'm not prepared to go through a second transfer window without any funds.

It was interesting and challenging for a while, looking for good free transfers and bargains, but it's no fun when it lasts for years.

I think I'll run the game until end of June and if nothing happens I shall stop it here.

P.S - I was in Milan for 2 days this week - just got back home. My work colleagues support AC and very frustrated at the moment!

Yeah difficult times for the Milan tifosi, especially when they see the hatred Juventus and -this season- the even more hatred Inter doing well.

What's your domain of activity by the way ?

[samsami]

Title, Super Cup and not money.

Have you tried an ultimatum? Or is that only possible with Stadium expansions?

I can see it would be boring to sit on the fence with no money whatsoever during the transfer period.

Sigh...

[LucasGills]

Title, Super Cup and not money.

Have you tried an ultimatum? Or is that only possible with Stadium expansions?

It's possible...



...but the board reaction is logical…

I can see it would be boring to sit on the fence with no money whatsoever during the transfer period.

Sigh...

Yeah I think it's a problem with the economical model in Italy.

Seeing what happened over the years IRL though I guess it's rather realisticly implemented in the game.

Problem is it's no fun because your options are so limited. I really have to think about it to see if I want to go on or not.

[samsami]

When will you get money, you think? One more year?

[LucasGills]

When will you get money, you think? One more year?

Dunno really.

Strangely our average attendance was lower this year than the year before, so apparently not much to expect on this side.

TV money in Serie B perhaps

Anyway given our debts level I guess only a takeover would solve our problems.

[Redknapp69]

Noooooooooooooooooo - you can't giove up

This is a REAL challenge

You are doing amazing given you have no money

It's not like you've had to struggle in any divisions yet!

What is your highest valued player?

Have you not been able to buy and sell to make any money (buy buying free transfers then selling)

I'm tempted to create the save that you have - seems like a great challenge!

I was visiting my client (Universal Pictures Italia) and Sony DADC

Never seen that 2nd paragraph before from a ultimatum from board - i.e - the bit saying they will invest in squad when difficulties are over

[LucasGills]

Noooooooooooooooooo - you can't giove up

This is a REAL challenge

You are doing amazing given you have no money

It's not like you've had to struggle in any divisions yet!

It IS a challenge, one I've been enjoying for a while.

It's also extremely frustrating. You can't imagine for instance the number of gems I've found (notably in Africa) that I could have snapped for a few quids had I got a little money.

Inter Milan has just bought for 2.3M a young Senegalese player I had scouted one year ago and whom I could have got for 65k...

That said, I've advanced the game till mid-July and, if no takeover has taken place yet, I've been at least able to get a few interesting free players whose wages I couldn't afford till now (thanks to Greco's and Orlando's contracts running out).

What is your highest valued player?

Have you not been able to buy and sell to make any money (buy buying free transfers then selling)

De Zerbi is at 2.7M, Eshun at 2.1M then we have a couple of new players I just signed. But first I need them, then I'm not too fond of this buying free/selling high thing.

I was visiting my client (Universal Pictures Italia) and Sony DADC

Great. I guess you eat good pasta and pizza

Never seen that 2nd paragraph before from a ultimatum from board - i.e - the bit saying they will invest in squad when difficulties are over

Promises…

[Effiong unmarked!]

Have you not been able to buy and sell to make any money (buy buying free transfers then selling)

Is this as easy as people say? My own experience suggests not. If your club has low reputation, it seems to affect how willing other clubs are to buy your players. Often what happens is I sign a free transfer, his value turns out to be £50k or so, he plays a season or two and refuses to sign a new contract, so I list him. He still shows as having a value of £50k or so, but nobody wants him. To try to get him off the wage bill, I offer him for nothing, but still nobody wants him. I end up paying him while his contract winds down. Even when there is interest from several clubs I sometimes get stuck with the player because the club the player chooses turns out to have no money, so the deal falls through. The other clubs who were previously interested no longer are.

I've found that you can generate some attention sometimes by taking the players off the list and then putting them back on it a few days later, but this is a bit hit and miss.

Occasionally it does work out well. The board will invest, and I'll manage to shift players as well. Some money will come in from sell-on clauses, and suddenly there is something to spend on a new player or two. Mostly though, the clubs I manage are in continuous debt, the players on the list mostly stay there, the money we do get in from sales is dwarfed by overheads, and there are no funds to spend. This is the first time I've seen a board refuse to put any money in at all, which is the real problem here.

I agree with you that it would be a shame if this story stopped though. It's not as if the inability to spend any money is hurting the team on the pitch. I'm enjoying reading the thread, even if I often can't think of anything to add by way of comments.

[Redknapp69]

If you are not willing to buy and sell then you are not really helping the inancial situation which you complain about are you?

BUT - maybe next season more TV money/gate receipts etc

if you wish to keep best players and try to get to Serie A then it will be wiped out quickly - that's the risk I guess!

[LucasGills]

If you are not willing to buy and sell then you are not really helping the inancial situation which you complain about are you?

BUT - maybe next season more TV money/gate receipts etc

if you wish to keep best players and try to get to Serie A then it will be wiped out quickly - that's the risk I guess!

You're fully right my friend but I just cannot force myself doing something I wouldn't/couldn't do IRL. That would be totally unrealistic.

I'm that kind of player

I could reluctantly imagine selling De Zerbi or Eshun though. I'll wait a few more days in the hope of a takeover then I'll put them on the transfer list. It won't clear our debts though but it will help.

[Redknapp69]

Or just keep 'em and try and get promoted again - what division do ou move to and what is after that? Surely in 1 more promotion you should start having positive cashflow in general on a weekly/monthly basis?

[LucasGills]

Or just keep 'em and try and get promoted again - what division do ou move to and what is after that? Surely in 1 more promotion you should start having positive cashflow in general on a weekly/monthly basis?

We'll play this season in Serie B. The next one would be the Serie A with all the big guns.

[Redknapp69]

Bah - stop complaianing them - should get some sort of positive chasflow surely this year?

Keep hold of the big guns then!

[LucasGills]

Bah - stop complaianing them - should get some sort of positive chasflow surely this year?

Keep hold of the big guns then!

You're probably right. I'll play another year and see what happens.

I put De Zerbi on the transfer list though and the guy thinks that "his manager is misjudging his qualities"

[samsami]

Glad you decided to continue !!