Catania Club Focus: Preparing for life in Serie B

Date: 11th April 2014 at 2:47pm
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Following yet another loss to Torino in their last game, Catania sacked coach Rolando Maran for the second time this season. Maurizio Pellegrino is going to take charge for the remaining six matches.

Pellegrino is a former Lecco coach and Elefanti midfielder. Whether or not president Antonino Pulvirenti wants to keep him when the club is relegated to Serie B remains to be known.

Yes, when the Rossazzurri are sent down. The latest sacking is just another page in the long, dreadful story of Catania’s 2013/14 season. It’s a sign that the club have essentially given up and are simply preparing for relegation.

The ramifications of their demotion will surely benefit a few squads in Serie A. Players like Francesco Lodi, Gonzalo Bergessio and Pablo Barrientos may be snapped up by other teams in the summer. If that happens, it’ll be even more evident that the front office are gearing up for a long stay in Serie B.

Finding a permanent coach, assuming Pellegrino isn’t their man, will be the first step. The second one will be surrounding potential outgoing transfers. If they can keep even one of the three aforementioned players, then it’ll give the coaching staff someone to build around.

Lodi - Catania v Bologna

The only way the Elefanti would sell all of them is to create funds to buy players back. They don’t have the financial capabilities of capturing whoever they want, it’s one of the reasons they’re about to be relegated. The departures from last summer were too much to rebound from and they weren’t properly replaced.

Something that could interfere with the future are the stadium plans. Catania ownership bought land that’ll be used for a new venue, but that means even more money will be spent in order to fund the project. That may lead to a club-issued transfer embargo.

Antonino Pulvirenti

In terms of this season, this is a deserved spot for the Etnei to be in. Pulvirenti was arrogant to think that the team’s results would improve by selling Alejandro Gomez and dealing 50% of Lodi’s rights. On top of that, firing Maran just eight games into the season was an even bigger boneheaded move.

In the end, Pulvirenti got his just desserts. All of these decisions have raised a lot of eyebrows. Considering that their Sicilian cousins, Palermo, may get promoted for the 2014/15 campaign, maybe the Rossazzurri don’t want to share the island.

What is known is that Catania are near locks to be relegated. The players, coaches and hierarchy have accepted it and it’s evident. Now all that the supporters can hope for is to see if Pellegrino is an adequate coach, he’s been successful as an assistant, but now comes the test.

Who knows, maybe he’ll reincarnate into the second coming of Vincenzo Montella, get Catania promoted next year and pick up where they left off. For now, he’ll need to start learning the tactics of the other Serie B squads beginning in May.

 

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