LUCCA. Lucchese 2024-25 must take advantage of the many mistakes made and above all, beyond the optimism of its gentleman president, it cannot present itself to the fans promising a top championship if at least five-six superior category elements do not arrive from the market with a strong personality. Beyond the amount spent in the season just archived and the blame to be distributed to this or that manager, we can state without mincing words that it was half a miracle – by virtue of the squad available to coach Giorgio Gorgone, with attackers who did not score never and players with a less than strong temperament – avoid the playout zone understood as fifth from last place during the 38 matches. And it is worth pointing out that, beyond the Walls, no insider had predicted Lucchese in the first eight-nine teams of a group, it is worth remembering, made up of battleships (Cesena, Spal, Perugia, Pescara, Carrarese, Virtus Entella , Gubbio, Arezzo, Torres). At most the Rossoneri could have aspired to tenth place (in fact the team fought for that objective until 180′ from the end) elbowing each other with Rimini (which had strikers like Morra and Lamesta) and Ancona. If we then add to this list Juventus Next Gen in the quarter-finals of the playoffs (in recent years they have produced players for Serie A and B) and Pontedera (for 10 years in Lega Pro without ever playing in the playouts, a model to imitate) who gained access to the post season, this explains the value of the competitors. Of course, it is understandable that the engineer Andrea Bulgarella, after having thrown a few million euros to the wind by obtaining twelfth place, decided to follow the market personally and to limit expenses as much as possible by fishing, as much as possible, among young people of the Primavera of A and B or directly from D. And relying, in addition to the coach Gorgone (liked by Triestina) capable of speaking clearly, to have useful information from football personalities (consultants) known in his long sporting career with the eight years of presidency of Trapani (1990-1998) and his last experience, not in front of the spotlight, in Pisa. In the meantime, football has changed profoundly compared to 30 years ago. The advent of the prosecutors has changed the balance of power and it is a complex exercise to fish in the trap of minor football, young and old unknowns _ as they were in the era Drepanum of Bulgarella _ Sciacca, De Sio, Sasa Tedesco, Vasari, Barraco, Campanella, Galeoto, Italiano and above all a certain Marco Materazzi, discarded by all the Serie A clubs and taken by Tor di Quinto (Roman promotion) and then in Serie A, in blue and become world champion in 2006. The composition of the groups is far away and, like every self-respecting Italian summer, there will be the usual exclusions, appeals, counter-appeals, readmissions and repechages. It is therefore possible that next season the Lucchese group will be made up of a smaller number of highly competitive teams. But, in any case, there will always be the five-six top teams (with long-established clubs equipped with cutting-edge structures and youth sectors) to inevitably deal with because the geography of football is no longer that of the good years and it is not enough and it is not necessary to be called Lucchese and to have played in Serie A in 1952 or Serie B in 1999. You need to structure yourself well. What is needed are years, patience and with the help of “bridge builders” capable of speaking only the language of sport, the gradual involvement of local entrepreneurs (in Gubbio, 30 thousand inhabitants, there are two cement factories which economically support, without breaking the bank, the rossoblù team). Otherwise there is a real risk of encountering yet another disappointment. To date, the Rossoneri squad is made up of five-six-seven players (Coletta, Quirini, Sabbione, Visconti, Ravasio, perhaps Guadagni and perhaps Antoni dal Tau) while also those enjoying a two-year contract (De Maria, Magnaghi, Fedato, Russo, Tiritiello and Gucher) is not sure he will stay. There are thousands of footballers out there. But it will be difficult, unless the owners decide to invest another two or three million euros, to aspire to fight at the top or worse at B. In these cases, and given the recent burns, it is better to present oneself with a low profile and then, during the championship in the same way as performances, raise the bar by bringing back to the Porta Elisa those fans who for years, a bit like the Italians at the polls, have deserted the steps of the stadium. Keeping in mind the teaching of the Superal group (Maestrelli and Grassi) which took six seasons (two in C2 and four in C1) to reach Serie B, which had been missing for 27 years, building brick by brick (even at youth level) a robust house remained in the cadettery for nine years. Otherwise, that club would have done a jump to Serie A, without risking a bad debt.
