December 2008

The Dolphins are dead. Pescara have gone into administration, bringing to a conclusion seventy-one years of proud history and fifteen months of abject chaos. The shadowy società will be allowed to play out the rest of the season, though the promotion push looks to be over

Better news for Legnano, another club that had been at risk from the bailiffs. The £400,000 hole in their finances has been filled with public money at the eleventh hour, after the mayor apparently despaired of finding any civic-minded generosity among the burghers of his town.

Pro Patria still top 1-A as we enter the winter break, continuing to defy the pundits who’ve been predicting their demise since August. Three wins from three in December saw them go four points clear of Spal and five above Cesena and Novara. Their finances aren’t in great shape though, and they could struggle to keep hold of their best players in January if Serie B sides come looking for a bargain – or if someone decides to give manager Franco Lerda a chance at a higher level.

In 1-B Gallipoli lead from Arezzo, who are two points back, with Benevento and Crotone a further two adrift. Gallipoli look well positioned for 2009, with a bright coach, a well-balanced team and an excitable but generous chairman who appears no more crackpot than most calcio impresarios. Ambitious, affluent Benevento may supply the strongest challenge to Giannini’s 'Magic Roosters'; they’ve taken winger Gianluca Sansone on loan from Serie A Siena with two of his team-mates poised to follow him.

Elsewhere Ivo Iaconi has run out of time at Cremonese, who have turned once more to ex-boss (and part-time Dolmio puppet) Emiliano Mondonico to get back on the promotion trail. Taranto’s new coach is Paolo Stringara, whose admission that he loves relegation struggles may explain why he’s on his fourth job in three years. And finally, the ultras of Hellas Verona have ended 2008 in traditional fashion, with a 10,000 euro fine for racist abuse of opposition players. Readers can expect 2009 to continue in a similar fashion for the 'Mastiffs'.