A few more hours of relaxation for Fabio Pecchia. Mister Serie A will be putting on his boots very soon and, with hat and whistle, he will be ready to lead the first match of the year. Parma will finally be among the greats of football and a lot of credit goes to him. He will get back to work with the curiosity to understand what more can be given to him. All the protagonists of last year’s splendid ride will each be in their place, for now. The Club’s philosophy, shared by the coach, is that of continuity: following the path already traced without stepping back a meter. It is clear that the troop will have to be strengthened with quality additions: better if young, in Krause’s mind, someone more experienced is foreseen in Pecchia’s plan who will try not to distort the group too much by re-proposing – as far as possible – a light, rapid and vertical football .
There is a lot of expectation towards the team that dominated the last Serie B season, an expectation that mixes with the curiosity of the fans (and the coach): they can’t wait to see Parma move among the greats of the Serie A. There are around forty matches on the horizon (between the Championship and the Italian Cup) in which one objective must be achieved: salvation. Consolidate yourself and then work again until you reach the maximum. With 84 games on the Crociati bench, the 50-year-old from Formia is by far the longest-serving coach of the Krause era. Having entered the history of the Club for having won the first Serie B Championship in 110 years (111 on 16 December ndc), Don Fabio will however continue with the contract expiring in 2025. His renewal is a topic that around the Mutti Training Center it has not yet been discussed, nor has a meeting been scheduled to establish whether or not there are the basis for continuing together and – possibly – for how long.
If this meeting were ever scheduled, the lawyer will bring with him his business card: a promotion never in question from the second to the thirty-eighth matchday, plus a series of kids brought to be credible and valued footballers. If today Bernabé and Circati, Bonny and Benedyczak are on the notebooks of various European clubs, much of the credit goes to Don Fabio. It took Pecchia two years to take over Serie A, in the meantime he transformed this group of talented youngsters into a team and came close to achieving promotion (stopping in the semi-final) already in the first year. This is how the lawyer prepared the ground to dominate last season, finding the fuel for the long sprint in the Cagliari debacle. So he is ready to target Alberto Malesani (manager of Parma from 1998 to 2001) with 126 benches and three Cups in 100 days. One game away from Cesare Prandelli (85 cross benches). Roberto Donadoni is further behind, coming to the most recent of the Crociati coaches. The former coach remained in charge of Parma from January 2012 until June 2015, with 141 benches and a place in the Europa League canceled by club problems. Far away is Roberto D’Aversa (174 benches, two saves in Serie A, as well as a promotion from Lega Pro to Serie B and the last before Pecchia to have brought Parma back to Serie A). Maybe he will even have time to get them all, who knows. A few more hours of relaxation, then it will be time to get back on the pitch.
