Good afternoon from the press room of the Via del Mare stadium Lecce. The directors’ end-of-season press conference will start in a few minutes Raven And Trinchera.
Word to Pantaleo Corvino, surprisingly honored by sporting director Trinchera with a shirt bearing the milestone of 250 matches in Serie A as manager: “We are here talking after a tiring championship. We would need a nice holiday, but there are those who can and those who cannot. Instead, we are here for an important reason, namely to make a final report regarding the technical aspects.”
“I wanted first and foremost to thank who took part in the journey, the one who saw us add promotion, two salvations, but also the goals with the Primavera. So I start by thanking the technicians Baroni, D’Aversa and Gotti, as well as Grieco and Coppitelli. Then thanks to the members of the logistics and administrative area. Thanks above all to the players. The predictions in January, when we said that this team didn’t need reinforcements because we believed in these guys, turned out to be right. They were not superficial assessments.”
“I’m not a bitter person. It’s right to be judged and criticized, although in doing so I don’t think I’m wrong in judging those analyzes as superficial. They have the right to criticize, but they can also understand that those who have 49 years of football under their belt may disagree and judge accordingly. I think that to judge the work of a director it is necessary to evaluate what he found when he arrived, what heritage he created and what results he achieved with what he had at his disposal. Grudges must be left alone when making evaluations. Just go to the chamber of commerce, pay 3 euros and see the balance sheets to find out if a director has incurred debts or not. And then connect them to the results achieved. That said, I’m not obsessed with social media. I have also been accused of not serving the interests of my president, yet I have not gone on anyone’s profile to deny the accusations.”
“When I was two points from the relegation zone I was pointed out as the culprit. I came here to lend a hand to the team from my area which was having difficulties, and after the results you are also criticized. As we know, the farmer always takes the cucumber from behind. I was the only one not mentioned by the newspaper on the page dedicated to the Giallorossi’s salvation, but I certainly didn’t tweet about it. If Guardiola takes the credit for the Scudetto it’s fine, if I take it I’m fine self-referential. I take not the credit, but my own merits for what was done in Lecce, for the eight years of Serie A in which my territory participated. They all talk about Lecce, if we do it it won’t be good. Okay, we won’t do it again. Sorry if we talk proudly about what we did in the Giallorossi. If it is a sin, I go to confession.”
“You saw with that salary amount the teams went to Serie A this year right? We did it with 4 million 800 thousand euros. The year before was the same, so we certainly couldn’t go into debt. As for the acquisitions and sales campaign, I started with 1 million in proceeds for Falco and Petriccione and then an outlay for Henderson who the following year produced 1.8 million. In Serie A we have never finished a purchasing campaign with a deficit. You know well about the huge salaries in Serie A, everyone says that we won a Scudetto by saving ourselves with this budget. I wish it were higher, but the owners do their best and cannot do more and we should feel proud. We don’t speak to make society feel poor, on the contrary we should all be proud. But I don’t want any misunderstandings to arise. I chose to die on the track, like thoroughbred horses. But I don’t want to die.”
“About the future there will definitely be another time to talk about it. We will speak with the president to find out the budget, with the coach you know there is an automatic renewal agreement. We will meet him and talk about the lines to follow. Coppitelli he informed me of the proposal that came to him from Croatia and he is evaluating it.”
“I referenced it generally on social media. There is my press office that reports strange things to me, I don’t look at it in particular. It’s not me who thinks about enemies, it’s you who come here to talk to me about it. And if you don’t ask me the question and then write about it, what should I think? I don’t hold a grudge, it’s you who hold a grudge against me. Because if I make 250 appearances in Serie A and only one newspaper writes about it, I’m not the one resentful“.
“Pongracic? I can’t talk about the value, it’s the market, but its quality has been seen. The president parried the 100 million offers in January and I agree with him. Someone said that we were visionaries for saying that we have a squad worth 100 million euros and that we would not be saved. Instead we did it with three games to spare, now it will be the market to tell us the rest about the value of the collective. To talk about the future we must always talk to the president and coach first. I confirm that we had those 100 million offers in January.”
“There Spring she is the daughter of a cycle, it was a very positive season. How positive this cycle has been, which will lead us to the fourth year of the top flight. After a few years of inactivity it wasn’t easy, we needed a complete cycle to return to producing Serie A footballers. This year we had the Under 16 team, the result of a project born 4 years ago and which did well, only being narrowly eliminated from Juve before the other group. These are long jobs that take time. For this we must say thanks to the coaches. Including those from the first team like D’Aversa which only paid for the excellent start because for the rest it was in line. And thanks to Gotti who immersed himself in the role just as we got along well with him. We then often talk about forms, in football there are many and one in many years even draws a line. If I choose coaches with whom I share the idea of a 4-3-3 I don’t think I’ll hurt anyone. With this formation we won Serie B, we saved ourselves, we won with the Primavera. It seems that module is absolute evil. Yet in short I believe it simply brought results.”
“After this time we will once again clear up this problem of choosing the coach. Every company gives you goals, I answer that every trainer it’s my choice. Not for who knows what reason but because the coach is the most important person for a technical area. It’s like choosing a wife, then you propose it to society but they can also say no. Here we are talking about a coach who was chosen by the president. Who is narrating these films? This is how it works in football. The option of having another year available would be discounted on Gotti’s duration.”
“I don’t impose the formations, just think of Rizzo’s 3-5-2 that he won with the Primavera years ago as Gotti often did this year. A coach decides the module even if the technical projects are shared. Gotti should be asked whether or not with Almqvist and Banda available he would have continued with the 4-3-3, then if someone can save themselves by playing with five goalkeepers, well, go ahead and do it, I’d be happy. Enough of this, then after 49 years I can also have a technical orientation.”
4.10pm: the press conference has just ended.
