KENMC
No Result
View All Result
Looking for a Football Manager podcast? Listen to The Football Manager Football Show, new episodes every Friday
kenmc
No Result
View All Result
kenmc
No Result
View All Result

Winter is Coming: 6 games unbeaten with Pisa to start term in Serie B

kenmc056 by kenmc056
22 July 2020
in Football Manager
Reading Time: 3min read
Forza Pisa: Part 2

Forza Pisa: Part 2

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“I’m at home to Entella in six days time, a side that beat Pisa 1-0 in the preseason. There’s six matches to go to the winter break. Six games to pick up a few points, make my presence felt and see how we get on.”

RelatedReads

Oh Danny Boy: The Football Manager Football Show heads to Scotland for Season 7

Oh Danny Boy: The Football Manager Football Show heads to Scotland for Season 7

20 May 2022
The French Connection #1: Allo Auxerre

The French Connection #1: Allo Auxerre

19 February 2022

That’s how I finished my introduction to Pisa in part one of this Football Manager journey.

Now, with almost a month off for the winter break, it’s time to assess the opening two months of my stay at Pisa.

Pisa make it six unbeaten

Stepping into my new office in November, Pisa were 12 games into the season with three wins to their name and out of the Italian Cup at the hands of SPAL.

The losses weren’t terrible. 1-0 to SPAL, 1-0 to Trapani, 1-0 away to Livorno, but they did stack up and Giuseppe Corrado (the chairman), saw enough in my interview to get me in the door with the promise of improving the dressing room atmosphere and battle against relegation.

The club’s spent the past few seasons in the third tier of Italian football and a sustained spell in Serie B would be just the ticket.

Six games into my tenure and we find ourselves mid table at the turn of the season. Not only that, but we’ve gone six games unbeaten with four wins from the six.

Pisa's six game unbeaten run to start proceedings in Serie B
Pisa’s six game unbeaten run to start proceedings in Serie B

Wins over Entella, Chievo, Spezia and Cosenza have helped things along in the early stages.

Entella 5-2

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the Entella game to kick off the unbeaten run. Having been beaten by them in pre-season, the lads gave a solid account of themselves. This despite going a goal down 22 seconds into the first half.

Marco Pinato had the game of his life on the left side, running himself ragged, picking up two goals and setting up another before being stretchered off in the 92nd minute.

Fabbro, on loan from Chievo bagged two in two minutes at the death to lay down his marker on his loan season from Chievo.

Pisa v Entella
Pisa v Entella

A 1-1 draw against Cremonese and a scoreless home fixture against Frosinone proved the dull points on an otherwise positive start to proceedings.

Three in a row

The 2-0 win over Chievo was great. 20 shots on goal, half of them on target and two finding the back of the net with Marco Pinto (30) and Francesco Lisi (90+4) stepping up to the mark.

Marco Varnier would bag the only goal of the first half (23) derby against Spezia, having mustered 17 shots on goal before rounding out the calendar year with a 2-1 win over Cosenza on the road.

So what’s changed?

Well, not too much. Tactically, it’s a 4-1-3-2 I’ve been playing for the moment.

One of the concerns I would have turning into the second half of the season is that Fabbro and Asencio, leading the attack, are both on loan with not much in terms of funding to hold onto them.

They’re not doing too badly at the back but we’re giving up a lot of needless fouls and dropping possession at time where we should be holding fast. Teething problems, but easing as the results start to meet my expectations.

Bar the scoreless draw against Frosinone (though we did finish and hang on with 10 men), we’ve managed to score in the other games, something I’m confident will continue into the new year.

Serie B league table with Pisa siting 11th after 18 games.
Serie B league table with Pisa siting 11th after 18 games.

The media had us pegged for 17th; thankfully we’re 8 points clear of there as things stand but it’s all to play for from January to the season’s end.

Seven Game Stretch

Next up is a seven game stretch while will allow me some more time to deep dive into the Pisa squad and see what the side are actually made of.

A mid table finish wouldn’t be such a bad things considering the objective is to battle relegation.

The run from mid January to late February sees us lock horns with Venezia (H), Pescara (H) – both in January – then onto Juve Stabis (A), Crotone (H), Trapani (A), Benevento (H) and Empiol (A). Fixtures commence on 18 January, running to 28 February.

Transfer-wise, there’s nothing doing for January on the buying front. I’ve got some coaching spots to fill. I’m about a grand a week over my wage budget, so that needs a little change and at the minute I’ve got about £400k in the bank.

Something will have to give financially or the club is projected to slip to nearly £3m in the red according to end of season projections. But staying up is the target, appearing attractive along the way, being clever with what we’ve got.

Wrapping up part 2, we’re 11th in the table. Super respectable. By the end of February I would be hopeful of creeping inside the top 8. We’re 12 points off the top spot and while mid table safety is my target, I’m always up for a challenge.

Comments 1

  1. Pingback: Champions: In an electrifying end to life in Serie B, Pisa are crowned champions - kenmc.com

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR POSTS

  • Kilkenny City hire Ken McGuire

    Friday night lights: Making a return to Buckley Park with Kilkenny City AFC in FM21

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Kitted out: Kilkenny City launch home and away kits for FM2021 season

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Kilkenny City: Prepping to restore the Black Cats to League of Ireland status

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Kilkenny City AFC #001: Laying the groundwork

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The u-turn: Welcome to Serie A

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
kenmc

About The Sneakers

Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. And if she hasn’t been rewritten, then they are still using her.

A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It is a paradisematic country, in which roasted parts of sentences fly into your mouth.

Connect With Us

Copyright © 2022 Ken McGuire · All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Podcast
  • Auxerre
  • Inter
  • Contact

Copyright © 2022 Ken McGuire · All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.