After the official farewell, the players push president Vrenna to make an about-turn: “He deserves to stay in his place”
Yesterday the bad defeat in Taranto, this morning the dismissal of Lamberto Zauli, made official with a press release. A turning point for a Crotone with great ambitions but after a poor start to the season (only 10 points in 8 games). Then, however, the rumors started to chase each other: not about the names of the candidates for succession, but about the hypothesis of a twist. It is early afternoon when a press conference is called by general manager Raffaele Vrenna, in the presence of the whole team. It is precisely the players who changed the history of the day: Zauli will in fact remain in his place, because the team asked president Gianni Vrenna directly not to sack him. Taking responsibility for negative outcomes.
“our fault”
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Vrenna junior introduces: “The team should have met Zauli to greet him, but the boys asked us to take a step back. It’s something that struck me on a human level, but obviously they had to deal with my father, the president, who had made the understandable decision to shake things up. The time has come to give more and do better.” The meeting at the top evidently had the outcome hoped for by the locker room. Guillaume Gigliotti, captain of his almost 150 appearances in Serie B, takes the floor: “We are men before being players, the faults are more ours than Zauli’s. That’s why we went to the president to ask him not to blame the coach. Listening to what is said around, no one wants the coach here anymore. But we are the ones who have a direct and daily relationship with him, knowing how he works. That’s why we tell you that he doesn’t deserve to lose his job.”
from playoffs to doubts
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Zauli, in the home match on Saturday 21 October against Foggia, will therefore still be at the helm of the team he took over in February 2023 (after the dismissal of Franco Lerda). Crotone closed the 2022/23 championship with 80 points, many but not enough to keep pace with the record-breaking Catanzaro. He prepared the playoffs “as if they were the World Cup” (Zauli himself’s words), but ended up eliminated on his debut in the double match against Foggia – coincidentally – led by Delio Rossi. Strong disappointment, to the point that already in the summer the club had considered changing technical manager – Michele Pazienza, today at Avellino, seemed the desired profile -, however in the end deciding to continue with Zauli. The rest is the story of the last few weeks, or rather, of a Monday that will go down in history in its own way. The team that decided to save its coach, from today, will have no more excuses.
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