Football Season Guide

After the incredible past season, during which they had as many coach changes as no human being can possibly conceive of, this year Palermo would be expected to aim for a quiet campaign. Coach Ballardini, the man who eventually led the Sicilians to the final safety in May, was confirmed at the helm of the team and he will have to repeat himself also this time around, trying to keep away from President Zamparini’s outbursts of rage. Considering how the transfer campaign went this far, he will have no easy life, though. In fact, Palermo lost at least 3 main protagonists of the past campaign without properly replacing them. Gilardino, whose goals proved fundamental wherever he played, and Sorrentino, who was at odds with the coach, were let go without any second thoughts. Besides that, Vazquez, the only true star in the squad, also left for pastures new and for a decent amount of cash. As usual, the Sicilian management opted for the arrival of a bunch of unknown and promising youths, such as Sallai, a Hungarian forward, or more seasoned, but far from exciting, ones such as Rajkovic from Darmstadt and Aleesami from IFK Goteborg. The icing on the cake should be represented by 33-year-old Gazzi, last year a bench players for Torino. The feeling is that Palermo are in need of more signings both in the midfield and in the attack. Otherwise, Ballardini would be left with a rather incomplete squad. At the moment, in a 3-4-3 formation, Posavec would be the goalkeeper while Goldaniga, Gonzalez, provided he is not sold at the very last minute, and Rajkovic would for the back three. Rispoli, Hiljemark, Gazzi and Lazaar could act in the midfield with Embalo, Nestorovski and Quaison, or Trajkovski, in the forward three.