Cosenza will certainly be protagonists in the playoffs. It remains to be established only with which position he will access it. But for Luca Pagliuso – former rossoblù manager, football expert and with many bonds built in the world of football, including the one with Milan coach Max Allegri – it would have been enough to make an extra effort to finish in first place and obtain direct promotion: «Cosenza – he says – arrived in Serie C with the strongest squad ever but the strategy that animated Guarascio was to “lighten” the costs. So Zilli was sent out on loan, a young and capable striker who, without an exorbitant salary, would have been useful. After him, Ricci and Rizzo Pinna were sold, in January Ricciardi and Kouan. Good Serie C players arrived but at the dawn of the season the potential was different. Superficiality and carelessness emerge in some choices. In my time, we also got relegated but we bought players of the caliber of Margiotta, Soviero, Fresta, Bega, highlighting a desire to regain Serie B. The team is having a good season and will be able to play its cards in the playoffs, as it did in 2018. The passion is at an all-time low and it’s a shame because Cosenza has nothing to envy of other places.”
Often in the city the figure of Pagliuso returns as a yardstick. The comparison with Guarascio has been constantly repeated in recent years: «They are two presidents who are poles apart – says Luca Pagliuso -. My father was first of all a great fan, driven by an enormous passion. It was a cornerstone of society since Carratelli’s time. With great competence, he managed to make his way as a manager, even becoming the administrator of Lega Serie A. His football career was interrupted by external reasons, fortunately clarified later but which left a great regret because his Cosenza was canceled and it was never understood what happened. Guarascio lent himself to the cause, invited by politics to take over the club at a particular moment. He is an entrepreneur with broad shoulders, very strong economically. It has never won a championship, despite reaching Serie B through various favorable circumstances. In the cadetship, then, salvation was achieved through various vicissitudes. He lacks vision. I know that in football it is not easy to achieve results. We, for example, wanted Serie A but we never achieved it but important players and coaches passed through Cosenza in those years.”
The nursery is another of the topics on which the former manager’s analysis focuses: «Little is done – says Pagliuso -. With Ciccio Marino we had created a remarkable network of collaborators and observers, which allowed us to get our hands on Modesto, Calaiò, Colle, Cristante, Fiore, Morrone and many others.”
