2007–08 U.S. Città di Palermo season

U.S. Città di Palermo
2007–08 season
Chairman Maurizio Zamparini
Manager Stefano Colantuono (Days 1–13)
Francesco Guidolin (Days 14–30)
Stefano Colantuono (From Day 31)
Serie A 11th
UEFA Cup 1st Round (eliminated)
Coppa Italia Round of 16 (eliminated)
Top goalscorer League: Amauri (15)
All: Amauri (15)
Highest home attendance 34,271
vs Juventus, April 6, 2008
Lowest home attendance 21,829
vs Cagliari, February 17, 2008

U.S. Città di Palermo is playing the season 2007–08 in the Serie A, being the fourth season in a row for Palermo in the league since their return in 2004.

Review and events

Stefano Colantuono, original Palermo head coach for 2007-08

Following a hard season ended in fifth place, Francesco Guidolin, sacked and successively recalled during the final days of the 2006–07 season, was not confirmed as Palermo head coach. On 31 May 2007, Atalanta boss Stefano Colantuono was announced to fill the vacant managing position.[1]

Regarding the team players, Giovanni Tedesco announced, immediately following the final 2006–07 matchday, to have agreed for a one-year contract extension.[2] The first two signings for the new season, midfielder Giulio Migliaccio from Atalanta and goalkeeper Samir Ujkani from Anderlecht, were announced on 8 June.[3] On the same day, Palermo captain Eugenio Corini announced his intention not to renew his contract with the rosanero, which due to expire on 30 June, following a dispute with club management.[3] The 22 June deadline for the resolution of co-ownership brought the return of Davide Matteini from Empoli, whereas Stephen Makinwa, previously in co-ownership between Palermo and Lazio, was ultimately acquired by the biancazzurri.[4] That same day, Andrea Caracciolo was announced to have been sold to Sampdoria in a co-ownership bid,[5] whereas Mariano González, back from a season loan to Internazionale, was loaned out once again, this time to Porto.[6] On 28 June, the club unveiled the signing of Serbian international Boško Janković from Mallorca.[7][8] On 5 July, two moves were made by Palermo, with David Di Michele being sold to Torino[9] and Fabrizio Miccoli signing from Juventus.[10]

Palermo's pre-season phase begun on 12 July, when all the players gathered in Udine and then moved to the training camp of Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria, where the team stayed until 4 August. From 6 to 12 August, the team successively moved to Villach,[11] and then returned to Palermo in a training session at Stadio Renzo Barbera in front of 10,000 spectators. They made their Serie A debut on 26 August, a 2–0 home loss to Roma, and achieved their first seasonal win in the next matchday, a 4–2 away win at Livorno. The season ticket sale closed on 11 September with 19,992 tickets being altogether sold.[12]

Palermo started their UEFA Cup campaign, their third consecutive, challenging Czech side Mladá Boleslav in the first round. The first leg, played at Mlada's home venue, ended in a 1–0 win for the rosanero thanks to a late winner goal by Boško Janković. This was followed by two Serie A consecutive wins, a 1–0 away victory at Cagliari and a last-minute 2–1 triumph against Milan, with Miccoli scoring a late winning goal during injury time.[13]

However, in the return leg of the UEFA Cup first round, Palermo lost 1–0 at home, with a Mladá goal scored during injury time, and were defeated in the subsequent penalty shootouts, causing an unexpected elimination.[14] In October, Palermo managed just to achieve four ties out of four matches, causing the team to slide down to ninth place, six points behind the fourth UEFA Champions League spot; increasing fans disappointment for these poor results led them to whistle and jeer the players during their October 31 home match, a home match with Parma ended in a 1–1 tie thanks to a late penalty equaliser scored by Amauri. In the aftermath of the match, Palermo captain Andrea Barzagli heavily criticized the fans for what he felt to be a hostile reception.[15] They returned to win on 10 November in a 2–1 home win to Napoli, after five consecutive ties. A crushing 5–0 away loss at Juventus on 25 November however persuaded club chairman Zamparini to sack Colantuono the next day and reappoint Guidolin at the helm of the rosanero.[16] Guidolin marked his debut on 2 December, losing the Sicilian derby 3–1 in Catania.[17] This was followed by two consecutive wins to Fiorentina and Atalanta and a home tie with Lazio, which allowed the rosanero to end the 2007 solar year in sixth place, four points shy of the fourth Champions League spot. Still in December, Palermo made their Coppa Italia seasonal debut with a 0–0 draw against Udinese at Stadio Friuli. They were however later defeated at home, and thus eliminated from the competition, by the bianconeri on the return leg, with a goal by Antonio Floro Flores scored during injury time.

During the January transfer market, Palermo loaned out Franco Brienza, the only player to have been a rosanero in all the top three Italian tiers, to Reggina. They successively sold Marco Pisano (on loan) and Aimo Diana (permanent transfer) to Torino, and signed full back Federico Balzaretti from Fiorentina and youngsters Luca Di Matteo and Edgar Çani from Pescara. The rosanero ended the first Serie A half in eighth place, after two consecutive league defeats to Sampdoria and Siena (the latter at home), and notably with the second-worst defensive line in terms of goals allowed. Palermo ended their negative row of results of four consecutive defeats (including Coppa Italia matches) with a 1–0 home win to Livorno on 2 February. However, a disappointing row in March, with two points in four matches, and Palermo down to eleventh place, causing Zamparini to attack Guidolin for the poor performances of his team.[18] This was followed by a third consecutive defeat, a disappointing 3–2 home loss to Genoa, and subsequent criticism by Guidolin who attacked Palermo fans declaring "it's like playing in hell here".[19] These remarks were immediately criticized by the club management, who consequently declared they might reconsider Guidolin's position as head coach in the near future.[19] On March 24 Palermo announced to have sacked Guidolin and reappointed Colantuono at the helm of the rosanero.[20] In the debut match for his second tenure, Palermo lost 1–0 to Napoli, suffering the match's lone goal during injury time,[21] but managed to defeat 3–2 third-placed Juventus the following week thanks to a late goal by full back Mattia Cassani,[22] and then winning the Sicilian derby the following week thanks to a free kick by Fabrizio Miccoli.

Palermo ended the league in 11th place, their worst result since the rosanero's return to the top-flight in 2004.

Match results

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Serie A

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendancePositionReport
August 26, 2007 – 20:30 AS Roma Home Lost 0–2   32,202 16 (Report)
September 2, 2007 – 15:00 Livorno Away Won 4–2 Rinaudo, Miccoli (2), Amauri 8,475 10 (Report)
September 16, 2007 – 15:00 Torino Home Drew 1–1 Simplício 25,987 9 (Report)
September 23, 2007 – 15:00 Cagliari Away Won 1–0 Zaccardo 10,000 7 (Report)
September 26, 2007 – 20:30 AC Milan Home Won 2–1 Diana, Miccoli 30,761 5 (Report)
September 30, 2007 – 15:00 Empoli Away Lost 1–3 Cavani 6,002 6 (Report)
October 7, 2007 – 15:00 Reggina Home Drew 1–1 Amauri 22,845 6 (Report)
October 21, 2007 – 15:00 Udinese Away Drew 1–1 Amauri 13,404 5 (Report)
October 28, 2007 – 15:00 Internazionale Home Drew 0–0 33,972 9 (Report)
October 31, 2007 – 20:30 Parma Home Drew 1–1 Amauri 22,680 9 (Report)
November 4, 2007 – 15:00 Genoa Away Drew 3–3 Cavani, Brienza, Amauri 23,595 8 (Report)
November 10, 2007 – 20:30 Napoli Home Won 2–1 Tedesco (2) 25,138 7 (Report)
November 25, 2007 – 20:30 Juventus Away Lost 0–5 20,036 8 (Report)
December 2, 2007 – 15:00 Catania Away Lost 1–3 Caserta 17,400 11 (Report)
December 8, 2007 – 20:30 Fiorentina Home Won 2–0 Miccoli, Simplício 22,823 8 (Report)
December 16, 2007 – 15:00 Atalanta Away Won 3–1 Cavani, Langella (own goal), Amauri 5,452 6 (Report)
December 23, 2007 – 15:00 Lazio Home Drew 2–2 Simplício, Amauri 24,148 6 (Report)
January 13, 2008 – 15:00 Sampdoria Away Lost 0–3 19,574 6 (Report)
January 20, 2008 – 15:00 Siena Home Lost 2–3 Amauri, Miccoli 22,542 8 (Report)
January 26, 2008 – 20:30 AS Roma Away Lost 0–1 32,618 9 (Report)
February 2, 2008 – 18:00 Livorno Home Won 1–0 Miccoli 23,033 9 (Report)
February 10, 2008 – 15:00 Torino Away Lost 1–3 Amauri 17,914 10 (Report)
February 17, 2008 – 15:00 Cagliari Home Won 2–1 Cavani, Janković 21,829 8 (Report)
February 24, 2008 – 20:30 AC Milan Away Lost 1–2 Bresciano 50,643 10 (Report)
February 27, 2008 – 20:30 Empoli Home Won 2–0 Simplício, Rinaudo 22,897 10 (Report)
March 2, 2008 – 15:00 Reggina Away Drew 0–0 10,316 9 (Report)
March 8, 2008 – 20:30 Udinese Home Drew 1–1 Simplício 24,833 8 (Report)
March 16, 2008 – 15:00 Internazionale Away Lost 1–2 Materazzi (own goal) 49,360 9 (Report)
March 19, 2008 – 20:30 Parma Away Lost 1–2 Cavani 12,599 11 (Report)
March 22, 2008 – 15:00 Genoa Home Lost 2–3 Amauri (2) 23,260 12 (Report)
March 30, 2008 – 20:30 Napoli Away Lost 0–1 49,341 13 (Report)
April 6, 2008 – 20:30 Juventus Home Won 3–2 Amauri (2), Cassani 34,271 12 (Report)
April 12, 2008 – 18:00 Catania Home Won 1–0 Miccoli 24,847 10 (Report)
April 19, 2008 – 20:30 Fiorentina Away Lost 0–1 28,827 10 (Report)
April 27, 2008 – 15:00 Atalanta Home Drew 0–0 23,288 10 (Report)
May 4, 2008 – 15:00 Lazio Away Won 2–1 Amauri (2) 20,786 10 (Report)
May 11, 2008 – 15:00 Sampdoria Home Lost 0–2 23,929 11 (Report)
May 18, 2008 – 15:00 Siena Away Drew 2–2 Janković, Miccoli 9,339 11 (Report)

UEFA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport
September 20, 2007 – 18:15 1st Round – 1st Leg Czech Republic Mladá Boleslav Away Won 1–0 Janković 4,110 (Report)
October 4, 2007 – 20:45 1st Round – 2nd Leg Czech Republic Mladá Boleslav Home Lost 0–1 (2–4p)   6,335 (Report)

Coppa Italia

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport
December 19, 2007 – 15:30 Round of 16 – 1st Leg Udinese Away Drew 0–0 1,695 (Report)
January 16, 2008 – 15:00 Round of 16 – 2nd Leg Udinese Home Lost 0–1 12,516 (Report)

Player details

Final statistics[23]

No. Pos Nat Player TotalSerie A UEFA Cup Coppa Italia
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Italy Federico Agliardi 14 -18 10 -16 2 -1 2 -1
12 GK Italy Alberto Fontana 30 -41 30 -41 0 0 0 0
88 GK Albania Samir Ujkani 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 DF Italy Cristian Zaccardo 38 1 35 1 1 0 2 0
3 DF Italy Ciro Capuano 14 0 12 0 1 0 1 0
16 DF Italy Mattia Cassani 29 1 26 1 1 0 2 0
21 DF Italy Giuseppe Biava 24 0 24 0 0 0 0 0
42 DF Italy Federico Balzaretti 16 0 16 0 0 0 0 0
43 DF Italy Andrea Barzagli (captain) 36 0 34 0 2 0 0 0
53 DF Italy Alberto Cossentino 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
77 DF Italy Leandro Rinaudo 26 2 22 2 2 0 2 0
4 MF Italy Giovanni Tedesco 21 2 17 2 2 0 2 0
8 MF Italy Giulio Migliaccio 34 0 31 0 2 0 1 0
14 MF Italy Roberto Guana 33 0 32 0 0 0 1 0
17 MF Serbia Boško Janković 30 3 26 2 2 1 2 0
20 MF Italy Fabio Caserta 31 1 27 1 2 0 2 0
22 MF Italy Luca Di Matteo 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
23 MF Australia Mark Bresciano 30 1 26 1 2 0 2 0
30 MF Brazil Fábio Simplício 36 5 32 5 2 0 2 0
7 FW Uruguay Edinson Cavani 37 5 33 5 2 0 2 0
9 FW Albania Edgar Çani 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
10 FW Italy Fabrizio Miccoli 22 8 22 8 0 0 0 0
11 FW Brazil Amauri 38 15 34 15 2 0 2 0
18 FW Italy Paolo Carbonaro 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Players sold or loaned out during the January transfer market:
19 FW Italy Franco Brienza 9 1 8 1 1 0 0 0
26 DF Italy Marco Pisano 7 0 6 0 0 0 1 0
32 MF Italy Aimo Diana 18 1 15 1 2 0 1 0
67 MF Italy Francesco Mirko Velardi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

January transfer market bids

In
42 Italy DF Federico Balzaretti (from Fiorentina)
9 Albania FW Edgar Çani (from Pescara)
22 Italy MF Luca Di Matteo (from Pescara)
Out
19 Italy FW Franco Brienza (loaned to Reggina)
32 Italy MF Aimo Diana (to Torino)
26 Italy DF Marco Pisano (loaned to Torino)
67 Italy MF Francesco Mirko Velardi (loaned to Pescara)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Palermo confirm Colantuono deal". Football Italia. 2007-05-31. Archived from the original on 2007-06-02. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
  2. ↑ "Tedesco pens new deal". Football Italia. 2007-05-28. Archived from the original on May 29, 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
  3. 1 2 "Corini's Palermo heartbreak". Football Italia. 2007-06-09. Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
  4. ↑ "Riscattato Matteini, Makinwa alla Lazio" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-06-22. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  5. ↑ "Caracciolo alla Sampdoria in compartecipazione" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-06-22. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  6. ↑ "Gonzalez in prestito al Porto" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-07-17. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  7. ↑ "Preso Jankovic dal R. C. D. Mallorca" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-06-29. Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
  8. ↑ "Palermo sign Serb Jankovic". Football Italia. 2007-06-29. Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  9. ↑ "Di Michele ceduto al Torino" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-07-05. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
  10. ↑ "Preso Miccoli dalla Juventus" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-07-05. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
  11. ↑ "Fissate le date del ritiro precampionato" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-06-11. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
  12. ↑ "Sono 19.992 gli abbonati per la stagione 2007/2008" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2007-09-11. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
  13. ↑ "Palermo 2 - 1 Milan". Football Italia. 2007-09-26. Archived from the original on 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  14. ↑ "Palermo 0-1 Mlada Bolseslav (Agg 1-1, 2-4 after pens)". Football Italia. 2007-10-04. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
  15. ↑ "Barzagli rages at Sicilian fans". Football Italia. 2007-11-01. Archived from the original on 2007-11-03. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
  16. ↑ "Palermo, via Colantuono. Guidolin pronto al ritorno" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2007-11-26. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  17. ↑ "Catania 3 - 1 Palermo". Football Italia. 2007-12-02. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  18. ↑ "Zamparini è una furia: "Guidolin non ci crede più"" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2008-03-20. Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  19. 1 2 "Palermo Blast Guidolin Comments". Goal.com. 2008-03-22. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  20. ↑ "Palermo sack Guidolin again". TeamTalk.com. 2008-03-24. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  21. ↑ "Napoli, un'altra vittoria notturna. Hamsik batte il Palermo al 92'" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 2008-03-30. Archived from the original on 4 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  22. ↑ "Juve, che doccia fredda nel momento più caldo" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2008-04-06. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  23. ↑ "Rosa giocatori Palermo" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
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