The message sent to Iemmello was the first and most important, but the signals sent by Ciro Polito during his presentation are many and direct. To the fans and to the players themselves, not only to the captain, “our top player”. The square knew (and booed) Polito as an opponent, especially when he was against Bari he achieved promotion to Serie B by winning the top-seeded clash at the “Ceravolo”, so he expected a sports director with broad shoulders and the taste for putting his face on the line. Hearing him speak on Wednesday, then, he was able to get an idea of what it means to have on your side someone who is made just as he speaks: without mincing words.
We were talking about Politi’s signals started with the one to Iemmello, that the club wants to be the center of everything. This does not mean that all the others are expendable, on the contrary. Vandeputte and Fulignati have been sold to Cremonese (loan with obligation to buy for a figure around three and a half million euros), but the club has no intention of losing other strong and fundamental players like Antonini: despite Empoli’s interest, the defender will not move and, probably, neither will midfielder Petriccione, who has already worked with Caserta in Benevento.
And the others? We’ll see.: «Some players will ask for a change of scenery, once the team is assembled I will speak face to face with each player. Those who don’t want to stay will leave because we need hungry, motivated people, ready to support this mission like I am».
Verna, Biasci, Sounas (another who played, winning, with Caserta in Perugia) and Scognamillo have received offers in B and especially in C, so their positions must be evaluated at least as much as those of Krajnc and Situm, without forgetting that all of them, just like Iemmello, have entered the last year of their contracts, so it is difficult for them to stay without extending. And in any case it will not be enough to rely only on them, given that there are no more under loans (only the goalkeeper Borrelli is owned) and they will also say goodbye to others: it is difficult to think of the permanence of the now thirty-five year old Brighenti, for example. In short, Polito will not lack some trouble: “Challenges are nice, I know I have a tough nut to crack, but I have never given up,” he explained.
It is natural to expect a different attitude in the locker room from the sporting director, the opposite of his predecessor Magalini: «I pass as someone who wants to command, in reality I take my responsibilities when we now move forward with algorithms. I live in the locker room, I think it was my relationship with the players that saved Bari, that’s why I also went to the bench during the matches, I had never done it before».
For Bari he discovered many talents from the lower categories: «I like to look below, even in D. Caprile and Benedetti were a satisfaction for me and for Bari who sold them obtaining capital gains. In B the players are more or less the same, but hunger and desire to get there prevail, so there must be the right mix. We will try to bring here some youngsters who want to run, win and create a future for Catanzaro. Here – underlined Polito addressing the fans – we must grow together by consolidating the category, trying to build a good football being ambitious, but sustainable: we must understand it and help each other». Mutually: club, team and fans.
