«We will face Palermo maintaining our nature. We will try to dictate the game as we often do, even if this year it hasn’t always gone well for us. We hope to also count on a better atmosphere given the expansion of the capacity of the corner to another five hundred seats, after the many problems we had this season. I therefore expect to be able to enjoy the beautiful audience I have met in these seven years in Pisa.” These are the words to the microphones of Ilovepalermocalcio.com of Pisa President Giuseppe Corrado, in view of Monday’s championship match against Palermo.
So no fear towards a highly rated opponent like Palermo?
“Absolutely. Sometimes several factors are involved in defining the ranking of a championship and the variables can be multiple. We believe we can compete with all the teams, including Palermo. We hope to take care of every detail well to try to win the match.”
Is there a desire for revenge also for the defeat suffered in the first leg?
«No, I have to say that on that occasion Palermo deservedly won. The matches last ninety minutes and the Rosanero were good at creating opportunities until the end. We also paid for the numerical inferiority, an aspect that has unfortunately been repeated several times this season. An experience gap that has accompanied us many times in this championship.”
Do you fear that the break may have regenerated Palermo?
«I don’t believe in these things. Palermo certainly suffered a decline before the break, but we will face a top-quality team who will come to us to bring home the victory. There are now many points from second place and the opportunities to achieve direct promotion are limited, but the Rosanero will certainly want to achieve an important position in view of the play-offs.”
Which Palermo player would you happily avoid?
«Palermo has many strong players and has also enriched its staff in the January transfer window. If I really had to choose someone I would avoid Segre, our executioner in the first leg match.”
If you were the owner of Palermo, would you be disappointed with the progress of the season?
«I would be happy because I don’t consider Palermo’s championship negative. It is clear that fans would like to win always and quickly, but the investment-results equation is not always linear. I think it is important to focus on the project and the potential of a club. We must not forget that promotion can also go through the play-offs. Just look at the example of Monza who went to Serie A by winning the play-off against us and established themselves in the following years. In football, programs matter, you just need to be patient.”
Are you sorry you didn’t take Soleri?
«He is a good player who was proposed to us by some agent, but the players requested in exchange were not on the market. Our offensive department is particularly rich both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. Soleri is an interesting player but we have never really covered him.”
Are you afraid that Fiorentina will take away Aquilani?
«I read in the newspapers about this interest, but he has a contract with us for another year. Aquilani is a young man with interesting ideas and has made himself appreciated in a season decimated by injuries. Now the period of rumors begins and it has now become fashionable to also sell coaches. Wanting to joke about whoever wants it has to buy it.”
What do you think of the “Lucchesi case” that united Pisa and Palermo in the past?
«We ask the Federation to establish rules that monitor bad management. There were managers who had already had similar disasters behind them, for which the blacklist that had been guaranteed to us should have been applied. Anyone who makes a mistake once cannot do it again, especially with respect for the fans. The Federation must therefore intervene because in the end the teams fail and these characters also end up enriching themselves, then going on to cause damage elsewhere.”
