The African elephant has a ‘record’ gestation period that can last up to 22 months. Orcas range between 15 and 18, while the Amazon River dolphin can reach up to 11 months. Just down from the podium is Reggiana who took an ‘unspecified’ but certainly long time to resolve the coaching issue (she finally married William Viali yesterday). Or at least, this is what the experts and those who care about Granata issues perceived.
Irony aside, the situation was uniquely complex, because never – in recent times – had the bench market been so lively and above all full of ‘joints’ between Serie A and Serie B. A domino effect that contaminated and slowed down both incoming and outgoing operations for many clubs.
The first to put the management in difficulty was Nesta who had an ambiguous attitude: first giving a conference in which he hoped for continuity to continue growth and ‘deserve’ Serie A, then taking time to wait for the call from Monza. A call which – unfortunately for Reggiana – came only after the Brianza team’s failure to deal with Baroni (who ended up at Lazio).
For those who were more attentive, the ‘rip’ had already taken place on May 29th in the ‘famous’ video call in which he had asked for a sort of pause for reflection, but until one has certainty, it becomes complicated to put body and soul into the search for an alternative. Everything that came after was a succession of twists and turns that continued until yesterday, when in the late morning William Viali responded positively to Reggiana’s ultimatum.
The first on the list – when it seemed impossible to get to Viali – was Alberto Aquilani, with Fabio Caserta and Ignazio Abate kept on stand-by as alternatives. Reggiana had even asked the former Milan Primavera coach, Pizzimenti’s favourite, to wait until yesterday at noon before signing the contract with Ternana. If Viali hadn’t said yes, Abate would have been the new Granata coach.
But then as the days went by the former Roma midfielder made it clear that he was not convinced and wanted to wait and the opportunity to close for Viali (still under contract with Cosenza until Friday…) did the rest.
There was also a minimum of understandable hesitation in Reggiana’s new coach when Roberto Gemmi’s Empoli winked at him, but the matter was resolved in a short time, given that Viali has always considered Reggio as a place of first level also for the quality of life, the stadium and the society. In the past he had made himself available to take over the running: both in the management of Diana and in that of Nesta (in December).
Yesterday the expected white smoke, with Viali expected to sign a yearly contract with automatic renewal in case of salvation or a two-year contract with ‘exit’ in favor of the club in case of relegation.
His deputy will be Massimiliano Guidetti, a good former striker also seen at Reggiana (28 appearances and 6 goals in 2010-2011). The flexibility of ideas and the ability to play with both a 3-man defense (as in Cosenza) and a 4-man defense (as he did in Ascoli) will leave Pizzimenti’s hands ‘free’ on the market. And this is certainly a point in his favor too. The new course can now really begin.
