With 3 rounds to go, Giulini relies on the Primavera coach
CAGLIARI. “Let’s reset and think about Salerno”. Mazzarri said it after Saturday’s defeat with Verona. We reset and think of Salerno, but without Mazzarri. Cagliari did it worried about the future at risk B. Giulini decided not to wait, he exonerated the coach by aiming for an internal solution for the next three games, the Primavera coach Alessandro Agostini. A promotion from the field of Assemini to the Domus to give a mental shock, rather than a tactical one, to the team.
It is clear that the former rossoblù player will not be able to invent the impossible overnight. But the club relies on him. Perhaps because he was convinced, after the test and the 1-2 against Verona, that with Mazzarri there was no chance to raise his head in time for the race of his life, on Sunday with Salernitana. If the team hasn’t shown signs of awakening at home with Hellas, why should it do it at Arechi, in an atmosphere exactly opposite to that of last Saturday’s Domus? So here is the decision: new man (but made at home) and Mazzarri greeted with a very concise statement: “Cagliari Calcio announces that they have relieved Walter Mazzarri from his position as first team coach”.
Nor the ritual thanks and wishes. The decision was already made in the warm post Hellas evening. The divorce and the official announcement of the club were delayed by the thousand complications of a contract that includes clauses and counter-clauses. No resignation, the coach had promised it. And he held his position. Convinced perhaps that he has the ace up his sleeve or the team in hand to play the game of his life in Salerno. After the match against Verona, however, few certainties even on the day of the resumption of training: it was the first sign. It could be all or nothing, though. The litmus test was the silence on Sunday. With the club that he had obviously already decided.
So here is the call to Mazzarri to try to resolve the situation. Also because the contract was not so easy to terminate. In the ping pong of indiscretions, the existence of a complicated clause was also leaked that would have provided for the extension of the contract until 2024 in case of exemption with the team not among the last three. One of the many “optimistic” formulas: the club was sure it had focused, even for the next few seasons, on a coach capable of changing the team’s standings and prospects. And Mazzarri was convinced that he could successfully complete the mission. The results, however, have ruined the rosiest expectations. It is true that Cagliari is not among the last three now. But it could and can be after Salernitana, who has a race to catch up. Giulini evidently thought, looking at the performance against Verona, of a Cagliari too low in terms of character and play for a red-hot match like the one in Campania. And he decided to try to raise the environment with a jolt, the change of coach. No training yesterday. But there was a coming and going of players.
Mazzarri also went to Assemini. Last Stand. Then the official exemption: “technician relieved of office”. Dry formula. And without thanks, a sign of a difficult divorce. Today the changing of the guard should be perfected with the first training session led by Agostini. It is up to him to find the right words and looks. The message is all too clear: the answers will have to be given by the players on the pitch.