Pierpaolo Marino was a guest on Udinese Tonight to discuss the latest at the club.
“As a football fan with so much experience in this game, nothing surprises me. Of course, it wasn’t easy to foresee things developing the way they have with [Gabriele] Cioffi in the last few weeks. It’s a shame but life does go on and Udinese will keep going. We’ll try to find solutions for our new programme which are in line with the strong and complete squad that we have.
“The players deserve credit. 47 points may seem like a lot based on the recent past, but in certain ways that may also not seem like that many. The commitment shown by Cioffi didn’t match up with the implementation of our plan and we realised that there was something else to it. At that stage it was impossible to begin negotiations when there were other teams involved, particularly as we took a risk with Cioffi, given that it was his first taste of Serie A.
“You have to learn about the mechanisms underpinning Serie A. I’ve spent so much time in the dressing room giving my full support and investing my time in working with the boss. It’s a shame because we thought we were building something but he then left us. With the technical ability and the host of young players at the club, there’s plenty of reason for optimism looking ahead.
“I trusted Cioffi and he had wonderful human skills, but it’s not the first time I’ve found myself in this sort of situation in football.
“The team picked up 47 points this year, mostly thanks to strong performances, particularly in the second half of the campaign. We have Gerard Deulofeu, Nahuel Molina and so many other top players, so we mustn’t lose sight of that.
“I feel we’ll have to go down the line of coaches that believe in the club’s project with experienced staff that are linked to the club rather than to the coach. The challenge for us is to bring people in who can get the most out of this squad.
“We don’t need to sell players, as thanks to the sustainable football model, we’ve built a stadium and a fantastic training ground, with the club now spending 28 consecutive seasons in Serie A. We know that players sometimes ask to leave and that can happen even if it puts a club’s financial future at risk.
“If we hadn’t had the Covid problems and the absurd situation with the game against Atalanta being arranged at the last second, we’d have picked up six or seven more points. I thank the players for their professionalism. The game in Salerno gives us hope for the future. We’re closing one chapter and opening another.”