The first piece of Taranto 2024/2025 has been placed. Ezio Capuano will remain the club’s coach, respecting a contract that sees him tied to the club until 2026. During today’s press conference, the coach revealed the reasons behind his permanence: “I am a man of honor and it would have been easy for me not to be here for what I have done in the past two years. I stayed in Taranto for the strong will of the owners and for the unlimited love of the Taranto people towards me. I have received many proposals but many heresies and nastiness have also been said. When a coach achieves notable results like Taranto has done, it is normal to be watched and it would have been too easy to leave as a winner. Expectations are very high and we will work even harder. I have many responsibilities, I am in one of the warmest places in Italy and I will try to bring the people back to where we were left off”.
Crecco and De Santis: “We are not doing crazy things, we only did them for one player who then left. They have a normal contract for the category, they are two good players who left because they did not fit with the project and we will try to find a solution this year too, as he is not part of my plans”.
Goodbye Vannucchi: “I took Gianmarco after my debut with Turris, signing a two-year contract with him. I will remember him with great affection, as he was also my captain. We had signed a renewal for another two years in the presence of his agent Galli but after a month and a half we learned that the contract had not been filed. Having to rebuild the team, I called Galli first and then Vannucchi to start again with my captain. However, I immediately realized that the expectations of the boy and his entourage were to try the leap to a higher category. It is a legitimate choice, just as Loliva opted for an experience as a starter out of his own will. Replacing Gianmarco will not be easy but when we realized the impossibility of continuing together we did our best to find another goalkeeper, who will be announced tomorrow morning.”
Downsizing and playing time: “I would never have stayed if the project had been downsized, even if Jupiter had chained me. There has been a lot of talk about playing time but it’s all bullshit. A city like Taranto doesn’t need it and to do that you need to have a major Primavera behind you, while last year it was squalid. According to some rumors we would have earned 400/500 thousand euros from playing time two years ago but those figures are not true. We only earned 184 thousand euros, more than the 170 thousand obtained from Juve Stabia last year. There has been no talk of the Taranto football management masterpiece and the capital gains made, including that of Kanoute in which we were phenomenal”.
Module: “I will start from the 3-man defense, with 3-4-2-1 and 3-4-3 among the options. I will try to get some versatile players in midfield that will allow me to also switch to 3-5-2”.
Montalto: “He is a great player but he is owned by Casertana. If I were a player I would come on foot to Taranto. However, I don’t know Montalto’s situation”.
Calvano: “Calvano has a contract with Taranto and is unsellable, even for Real Madrid. We are holding on to him, as is Ferrara”.
Players expiring: “There are players we own and players we have to negotiate with. We signed contracts evaluating quality, age and much more. Luciani? I spoke with his agent this morning, we want to keep him but it must be a will of both. Miceli? He is owned by Turris, a negotiation is underway but at the moment he is not one of our players. Orlando? I called him personally and spoke with his agent but he is not under contract with Taranto. De Marchi is one of our players, unlike Fabbro who however we want to keep”.
Primavera: “I have already brought a 2009, Turbato, for two months with the first team. I hope that the youth sector is worthy of Taranto, Pietro Armenise is a name of substance and if there were some player ready for the first team I would be very happy. I hope that there are many players from Taranto and the province, without bringing players from outside”.
