Calcio II: Catenaccio Reloaded

[arinceo]

Sounds like a plan, it'd be nice to see you succeed with an all-Italian squad given Serie A's preference for foreigners.

[W I L M]

Partly. Partly is that I've been so busy lately, that I haven't had chance to give it the time it deserves. Plus I feel we over-achieved in the first half of the season.

I think it's time to go Fergie on this team. Rip them apart. All foreigners out, try to bring some of the youth through.

You still busy?

Kinda miss reading your updates

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, January 2026 Review

06.01.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 4 AC Cesena (Serie A TIM)
I've never been so humilated in all my career. We conceded all four from the same player from 20+ yards, as he was nigh-on unplayable all game.

11.01.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 0 Cíttí de Palermo (Serie A TIM)
BOOM! Sergio Corallo's grrrrreat finish meant we wiped away some of the bad taste from the previous matchup.

18.01.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 2 AS Roma (Serie A TIM)
Roma took the lead on 48 minutes and the game looked to be heading for a routine defeat when Carlo Alberto Vinci lifted a shot into the net on 83 mins. However, Roma again took the lead on 87 mins as they lashed home from the edge of the box. The drama wasn't stopped there either, as Carlo Alberto Vinci bundled home the equaliser on 93 mins to give us the point.

25.01.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 0 S.S Lazio (Serie A TIM)
Paolo Sarzi struck a close-range effort after Del Nevo's dinked cross into the box on 77 minutes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No signings came in, but I managed to get £5.25m as a co-ownership from Palermo for ST Dani Rodrigues; £575k as a co-ownership for Janusz Grunt from Parma and, because of the new policy, I sold off MC Filipe to FC Zurich for £2.5m.

[Deisler26]

You still busy?

Kinda miss reading your updates

Back (possibly)

[deltablue]

Good recovery after Cesena.

[Deisler26]

Good recovery after Cesena.

Aye. It's started to pick up.

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, February 2026 Review

01.02.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 0 FC Internazionale (Serie A TIM)
A dull game in which we lost our only playmaker left for 4 months. Damn. Time to give the yoof a chance.

04.02.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 2 AC Milan (Serie A TIM)
Not at the races. All the agents of my players hate me and demand stupid contracts daily, I just lost Sergio Corallo to injury and we can't score for toffee.

18.01.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 1 Empoli FC (Serie A TIM)
Cristian Conversano headed home early on to open the scoring. Then on 93 mins, Ferruccio Sassaroli bundled home the equaliser to give us the point.

15.02.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 0 Juve Stabia (Serie A TIM)
We're firing blanks. None of my strikers are coming up with the goods.

22.02.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 3 Napoli (Serie A TIM)
Federico Macheda got our only goal in a run-of-the-mill defeat.

28.02.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 0 Udinese (Serie A TIM)
SOMEONE SCORE, FFS!.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Only 1 goal from my strikers this month is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

[deltablue]

In fairness, it's much tougher without your playmaker.

[Deisler26]

In fairness, it's much tougher without your playmaker.

I've got a youth player in for him and he's doing well, but I do need Del Nevo back really. They'll be the 1-2 punch in the playmaker position for a number of years.

[Deisler26]

D/WBR Alberto Frasca

GK Marco Cerioni

Still awaiting that first great striker...

[arinceo]

You've got some horrible luck with your intakes, but it wouldn't be a Catenaccio thread if you weren't drowning in defenders

[SRL88]

Definitely awaiting that quality to come through.

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, March 2026 Review

15.03.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 1 AC Sampdoria (Serie A TIM)
We lost to an own-goal. It was that kind of game.

18.03.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 3 - 1 Brescia Calcio (Serie A TIM)
Sergio Corallo put us in the lead on his return from injury and, by the time Cristiano Conversano headed home, we were cruising. Finally, Francesco Cortini sealed the deal.

22.03.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 1 Atalanta (Serie A TIM)
Cristian Conversano headed home early on to open the scoring, but we left open a player late on in the first half to only take a point.

29.03.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 Nocerina (Serie A TIM)
Federico Sassaroli hit a brace to see off Serie A TIM's bottom side.

[Ratonbox]

finally an update. Been waiting for this. Looks like you got back with pretty good results.

[Deisler26]

finally an update. Been waiting for this. Looks like you got back with pretty good results.

Thanks man. Yeah, we're back on the up it seems.

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, April 2026 Review

04.04.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 1 ChievoVerona (Serie A TIM)
*rolls eyes*

12.04.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 Juventus (Serie A TIM)
A famous win! Andrea Giovanni Maino put us in the lead with a shot bundled home from close range and, late on, Francesco Valentini headed home to seal the deal and give us three points.

15.04.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 0 AC Parma (Serie A TIM)
Carlo Alberto Vinci lashed home from two feet away to give me a birthday win, despite being in a suspiciously offside position.

19.04.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 1 Cagliari (Serie A TIM)
Beaten from 30 yards in a dull game, however, we had a 90% home-grown lineup with only Paolo Sarzi a non-academy player.

26.04.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 Fiorentina (Serie A TIM)
Sergio Corallo streaked through to finish strongly to put us in the lead. Then Francesco Cortini hit a bobbling, miscued shot which trickled home to give us the win.

[arinceo]

Bit of a mixed bag for results, how many matches left in the season?

[Deisler26]

Bit of a mixed bag for results, how many matches left in the season?

Season's finished. Just about to put up the last month.

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, May 2026 Review

02.05.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 0 AC Cesena (Serie A TIM)
Sergio Corallo slotted home under the keeper late on to keep up our hopes of qualifying for Europe.

10.05.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 1 Palermo (Serie A TIM)
The death knell for our Europe hopes. This, combined with Parma's win, saw them go 4 points clear with only a game left.

17.05.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 3 AS Roma (Serie A TIM)
Team was already on their holidays in this big defeat.

---------------------------------------------------

Well, we finished 7th in Serie A TIM, which is a record high for the club. Next year will see a LOT of player sales as I try to run with just our academy grads, whenever they left.

[SnakeXe]

Fantastic season, good luck reassembling the squad from your academy boys!

[Deisler26]

Fantastic season, good luck reassembling the squad from your academy boys!

Thanks man. Yeah, we're pretty much sorted, with only a few problems up front and at full back depth when the bought in players leave

[deltablue]

Could be painful in the short term.

[Deisler26]

Could be painful in the short term.

Definitely. My strikers aren't exactly the best as it is!!!

[AK22]

7th place is excellent! Shame you missed out on Europe. How far off the top six were you in the end?

[Deisler26]

7th place is excellent! Shame you missed out on Europe. How far off the top six were you in the end?

Four points. Shame really. I'm looking at a top half finish next season.

[SRL88]

Great season .

[Deisler26]

Great season .

Thanks man!

[Deisler26]

After 13 years....

[SRL88]

Didnt take long then .

[withnail316]

Still amazed by this tread. Good to see you still going strong, man!

[Deisler26]

Still amazed by this tread. Good to see you still going strong, man!

Thanks man!

[Deisler26]

[Deisler26]

Vindication.

[Deisler26]

[Deisler26]

Finally some of my players will get the international acclaim they deserve!

[deltablue]

Congrats on getting the national gig.

[SnakeXe]

Excellent news! All-Santarcangelo catenaccio-congaline to the World Cup

[B.W.G]

Excellent finish in Serie A and good luck with the Italy job.

[AK22]

Global domination awaits

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, August 2026 Review

We had our pitch re-laid and work started on our new youth facilities in the off-season. Our brief was to avoid relegation again with a £275k wage budget and a £23m transfer budget. After a decent finish to last year, we need to kick on and finish well again. Stage One of the youth rebuild started too.

---------------------------------------------------

30.08.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 Juve Stabia (Serie A TIM)
A tight game and our first as a youth academy club. We started the game with 11 academy players and we had a tight first half, but goals from Francesco Cortini and Sergio Corallo, playing with a lot of confidence after scoring a goal for Italy on his debut, settled the issue and gave us a great start.

----------------------------------------------------

My first match in charge of Italy was against Ukraine in a friendly. Nunzio Novelli, Francesco Valentini, Andrea Giovanni Maino, Sergio Corallo, Amedeo Del Nevo and Luca Buldrini all made their international debuts (biased? Me?) in a 1-0 win, with Sergio Corallo netting a debut goal.

----------------------------------------------------

First out of the door was DC Cristiano Conversano. Gutted to lose him, but he was brought into the club and that's not the way we're going anymore. So he was shipped off to U.D Logrones for £2m. DM/MC Cristian Pinton was sold to S.C Braga for £1.5m. Despite him being an academy graduate, his agent hated me and wanted a rise for him from £2,300 p/m to £26,000 p/m. AS IF!. I then sold the French Eminem, ST Slim Saidi for £2.4m + 50% to FC Lorient and then main striker Paolo Sarzi for £2.5m + 50% to Vitesse Arnhem, a victim of being brought into the club.

Next lot out were DM Brent Guitierrez to £1.1m + 50% to FC 1.Kaiserslautern, DRLC Andrea Raia was again a victim of being brought in and shipped off to SC Braga for £1.1m + 50% and finally French AMC Johan Dumont was sold to Stade Malherbe de Caen for £1m.

[SRL88]

Great work getting the Italy job and you seem to have had a busy summer.

[Deisler26]

Great work getting the Italy job and you seem to have had a busy summer.

Thanks man! And yeah, cleaning house was tough, but I think we can make it.

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, September 2026 Review
--------------------------------

02.09.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 S.S.C Napoli (Serie A TIM)
Goals from Francesco Cortini and Sergio Corallo meant that we had a perfect start to the season and beat a perennial title contender.

13.09.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 2 Brescia (Serie A TIM)
Terrible play. Not a spark of life in anyone.

20.09.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 0 Juventus (Serie A TIM)
A good battling draw, however, I'm worried about the lack of goals.

23.09.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 1 Catania (Serie A TIM)
A great come-from-behind win, with goals from Francesco Cortini and a first-ever senior goal for William De Luca bagged us the points.

27.09.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 3 - 0 Cesena (Serie A TIM)
That man, Francesco Cortini, popped up again with a goal to round off a very convincing win, aided by a first ever senior goal, and his first in over 18 hours of play, for Loris Dossena and a 30 yard wonder strike from Amadeo Del Nevo.

[deltablue]

Going very strongly.

[SRL88]

Very strong indeed.

[Deisler26]

Thanks for the continued support, guys! Yeah it was a good start!

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, October 2026 Review


04.10.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 S.S Lazio (Serie A TIM)
I gave promising youth player Antonello Torricelli his first senior start and he repaid me with two debut goals to see off Lazio.

17.10.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 2 FC Internazionale (Serie A TIM)
It wasn't as close as the score suggested. Antonello Torricelli scored our consolation in the 89th minute.

25.10.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 A.C Parma (Serie A TIM)
Francesco Valentini headed home from a corner to give us the lead and then, the man on a hot streak, Antonello Torricelli, netted late on to seal the three points.

28.10.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 4 - 2 ChievoVerona (Serie A TIM)
That man, Antonello Torricelli, was instrumental. He scored the first, then as Doria dropped the ball at the feet of a Chievo player and the defence melted away, he stood up and scored twice more for his hat-trick and to put us 3-2 up. Finally, Fillippo Cancelli headed home his first ever senior goal to settle it 4-2.

[arinceo]

Looks like the summer clear-out hasn't been as catastrophic as expected. Hopefully your good form continues and your strikers stay injury free.

[deltablue]

3 wins is very good from those games.

[Deisler26]

Looks like the summer clear-out hasn't been as catastrophic as expected. Hopefully your good form continues and your strikers stay injury free.

Well, it's been a blessing in disguise as I brought in Torricelli when Corallo was injured and now, he's superceded him.

[Deisler26]

3 wins is very good from those games.

Yep, although 3rd place at the beginning of Nov is not the end of the season [/pessimist]

[Deisler26]

We've just finished our final youth upgrade. We now have State-Of-The-Art youth facilities. Hopefully, this will mean we get a bumper crop in March.

[AK22]

We've just finished our final youth upgrade. We now have State-Of-The-Art youth facilities. Hopefully, this will mean we get a bumper crop in March.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much...

[nava]

Just a quick question diesler. When you go a goal down do you abandon the catenaccio tactics or do you just tweak it a little?

[SRL88]

Some nice wins there Deisler .

[Deisler26]

Just a quick question diesler. When you go a goal down do you abandon the catenaccio tactics or do you just tweak it a little?

I only only change personnel and tweak roles to suit and rely on the team talk to inspire/make them play better

[Deisler26]

Oh my. AS Monaco are in the French National division...

If that job comes up....

[SRL88]

That is second tier isnt it?

[deltablue]

That is second tier isnt it?

No it's third.

[Deisler26]

That is second tier isnt it?

Third tier. Shocking really.

[SRL88]

No it's third.

Third tier. Shocking really.

Alright lads. I dont need telling twice .

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, November 2026 Review


01.11.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 2 - 0 AS Livorno Calcio(Serie A TIM)
Antonello Torricelli came up big again, adding a deft finish to Amedeo Del Nevo's distance strike.

08.11.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 0 Atalanta (Serie A TIM)
Antonello Torricelli. Say no more.

22.11.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 2 Citta di Palermo (Serie A TIM)
We crashed and crashed hard without 5 first-team regulars.

[SRL88]

That embarrassing that you dont even want to post how many Palermo scored?

[Deisler26]

That embarrassing that you dont even want to post how many Palermo scored?

Pretty much. It was a terrible game.

[Deisler26]

[Deisler26]

[Deisler26]

Santarcangelo Calcio, December 2026 Review

02.12.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 2 Udinese Calcio(Serie A TIM)
Out-everything'd.

05.12.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 1 - 1 Fiorentina (Serie A TIM)
Antonello Torricelli. He fired us into the lead only for us to concede a stupid goal just after.

13.12.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 2 AS Roma (Serie A TIM)
Just leave it, yeah.

20.12.26
Santarcangelo Calcio 0 - 3 AC Milan (Serie A TIM)
Just utterly terrible. Wake me when it's 2027.

[Deisler26]

Mirco Doria just took second place in the 2026 Serie A Goalkeeper Of The Year.

[Deisler26]

Oh my god... *quivers*

[deltablue]

Two poor sods were sacked twice!

[Deisler26]

Two poor sods were sacked twice!

All three!

[Deisler26]

LOL

[deltablue]

All three!

These are terrible times.

[Deisler26]

These are terrible times.

Perhaps the administrators really hated them, sacking them twice.

[Deisler26]

Now this is the most seriously I've taken a job offer. I don't think I can take Santarcangelo any further and the idea of rebuilding a fallen giant is really too good to pass up....I think...

[SRL88]

I would take it. A brilliant place to stamp your authority on the football world and get them playing European football again.

[deltablue]

Bit of a nice challenge in the state they're in.

[B.W.G]

You've done really well with Santarcangelo,the Monaco offer is one I couldn't turn down as restoring them would be a brilliant challenge.

[Deisler26]

I did it. I actually did it. I said I'd like to wait until the end of the season, then went on a self-imposed holiday until the end of the season, where the following was waiting for me.



Really happy that my last season with the club was the best we'd ever had in terms of league placing.



This shows how far myself and the club have come in this time. Really proud.

[deltablue]

So you should be.

[SRL88]

Unbelievable progress made.

[DodgeeD]

Great work with Santarcangelo and now a very interesting looking challenge with Monaco. KUTGW

[crouchaldinho]

Great stuff to see how far you've taken Santarcangelo. Sad to see you leave them now. That must have been a hard decision!

So you're going to Monaco now? Looking forward to this next chapter!

[cerud]

Good decision on moving on. You've done amazing things with Santarcangelo. The time to move is right.

[W I L M]

Looking forward to seeing how you do with Monaco I like them as a feeder team when I am a bigger club, because of how good they were such a short time ago. Will be good to see if you can take them to the top of France.