Saverio Sticchi Damiani, president of Lecce, was a guest of Yellow-red Square. Many topics were covered by the Giallorossi number one, with his statements reported below.
The last two defeats
Immediately after the match against Atalanta I saw disconsolate faces, that’s because we didn’t want to lose, but since those faces were almost surreal then I wanted to cheer everyone up. We would have liked to have played these matches better but our Scudetto was already sewn on our chest and we must be happy for this. I saw yesterday’s matches between our former direct competitors and for a moment I imagined being in their place and I thought about all the good things done this season.
Lecce model
In football, in addition to the theme of passion that leads you to make unimaginable efforts, it is necessary to have a vision. At a certain point I thought it was necessary to take a path unknown to football, made up of financial rigour, youth and also sporting risk. Realizing this vision wasn’t easy but when I imagined it, I immediately thought that the right figure was Pantaleo Corvino. Then we added a young but already experienced Stefano Trinchera and then the numbers man Sandro Mencucci, who allowed us to make a further leap in quality. I’m pleased to see that Italian football has realized how important economic stability is, look at what is happening to Inter, the team that won the Scudetto. Even the fans have now become very attentive to the stability of the clubs, obviously without forgetting the importance of the sporting result. Combining these two factors makes Lecce’s recent history unique.
The difficult moments
Passion must not turn into impulsiveness. Passion must lead to extraordinary commitment, which would never be dedicated to a company that does anything else. Making the people of our land happy, however, gives you an incredible incentive. We have always tried to be clear in our choices, also because we live with difficulty. Football can be ruthless and in a few minutes you can lose everything good that has been done. Let’s all try to be on top of things, always knowing that danger is around the corner. Sometimes the fans would like to hear other things, but they know that sometimes in my heart I think so, but I only say what is right to say.
The mistake I wouldn’t make again
We must not get caught up in easy proclamations. We have two teams already mathematically relegated who I believe made different announcements at the beginning of the year. I like to communicate that this company is building brick by brick, hoping to create an even more beautiful structure.
Dreams and similarities with Atalanta
I say that in common with Atalanta we have a very passionate team. Our numbers in terms of fans say that we can compete with the very large squares, we have a fan element which is fundamental. We have a Serie A support base that I believe we have reawakened. Our people don’t even know the potential they can express, the work done on the new generations, which has been sought and desired, can lead us to have a dimension of this basin that is still unknown. Previously, parents convinced their children to support Lecce, now the children force their parents to go to the stadium because they are the ones supporting our team. Today I was with Berisha for an hour in a school in a town near Lecce and I couldn’t believe my eyes: there were 500 children all wearing Lecce shirts, including the teachers. This passion is incredible and overwhelming.
Paladin of the Giallorossi people
I feel like expressing the same things that the fans think but because I have an affinity with my people. We all want football that expresses the values we are trying to propose. I appreciated the curve banner regarding the matches at the same time. The Lecce-Udinese match, which made some people turn up their noses and it made me angry because no one should say anything about the values of this group – was the subject of one of my complaints: I wanted contemporaneity for us, I didn’t want to play with on Monday and I asked that the match be played on Sunday, together with the others and in the presence of all of Salento. They replied that that was the calendar and it couldn’t be done otherwise. The boys achieved the result with 3 rounds to spare and that’s what counts, although obviously I would be very pleased to get to thirteenth place because in the distribution of TV rights the ranking is important. For the players it is also important: the higher we reach, the more their prize increases.
Raise the bar
We always think that negative things can only happen to others but I assure you that this is not the case. I believe that this year both Salernitana and Sassuolo had thought about raising the bar at the beginning of the year, but instead they were relegated. I expect Como to want to immediately fight for important goals and Parma will also do the same, given that they have extraordinary financial resources. We, for our part, must try to do even better and more. Last year we had a base of many young people, this year thanks to the sale of Hjulmand we have enriched that base, buying many players on a permanent basis, who have proven to be important for salvation. This summer we don’t need to make who knows what kind of transfer. Obviously, however, it makes no sense to retain players who have other motivations and ambitions, it is normal for this to be the case. If you force that player to stay then it no longer makes sense because he wouldn’t perform as well as he did in the previous season. All those who have our desire and our hunger will remain with us.
January transfer market
In January Pantaleo and I said: “it’s true that we aren’t hiring anyone but we have had requests for a figure close to 100 million” and many laughed. We will see in June and July if we have said false things. Maybe they think we’re two clowns but I assure you that’s not the case. We try to do the sensible things, the right ones for the club. The players who have the fire inside for Lecce will remain with us, those who think of other teams will be sold, always in the interests of the club.
De Picciotto’s farewell
He wanted to leave the club during the Covid period and I decided to buy his shares, giving him back everything he had invested in Lecce. De Picciotto left our company without losing a single euro. I decided to act like this and it seemed like a gamble, I assure you that for a few nights falling asleep wasn’t easy but I did it because I believed and believe strongly in our project.
Covid
In the two years of B our balance sheet was negative. The law gave us 5 years to make up for those two negative balance sheets. The miracle of the financial and sporting management of the club was that that budget was paid off in two years and not in 5. I must thank all the members but also those who took care of the technical sporting management because it allowed us to make incredible capital gains and achieve the sporting result.
Strefezza
Strefezza left in January because he wasn’t playing at the time. There was a company that made an indecent proposal to him and a satisfactory proposal to us. It wasn’t an offer that could be refused at that moment, because the player wasn’t a starter. If he had been essential, I assure you that we would never have sold him.
New members?
The entry of a single shareholder who puts his own resources with a minority share risks flooding the machine. If a new member comes to do something that we can’t do then they are welcome.
Lecce under his management
We entered in 2015, we had the first traumatic years in Serie C and then in 2017 I became president and I remember that the first choice to be made was that of the new coach, in the aftermath of Rizzo’s resignation. That time I wanted to do my own thing and I took Liverani, with whom we performed a real miracle. We had a wonderful trip, two promotions and a salvation that was undeserved for me. But in any case everything helped us become who we are today.
Gotti
Gotti, Corvino and Trinchera will have a chat. It’s enough for me that everyone comes out of that meeting convinced to start again with the most important feat in Lecce’s history. Just being able to play an adventure like this seems fantastic to me and represents an enormous privilege.
Stadium coverage
It’s not up to me but we can determine this decision. We commissioned two feasibility studies: the first allowed us to enter the first tranche of works solidly. The second one, the one on the roof, we have already donated to the Municipality, so that the Municipality can make it available to the Commissioner of the Mediterranean Games. The decision should arrive by June.
Using VAR
We need to reduce it to a tool that helps the referee for macroscopic situations. Otherwise sometimes it is used for minutiae and other times for fundamental episodes in the economy of the matches. We are in a period of illogical rules and this is not good.
The most beautiful moment
For me this season Sassuolo-Lecce: the perfect match in an unforgettable context. In general, last year in Monza with those two penalties, one scored and one saved by Falcone.
Promotion party
If the match against Napoli had been on Saturday, we thought we could have it on Sunday. Since we play in Naples on Sunday, I think the party has vanished due to the rain.
