BOLOGNA ARE BACK!
Their bid to recapture old glories
BOLOGNA used to be a force in Italian football – and maybe, just maybe, they can be again. With seven Italian championships, Bologna are the sixth most successful team in Italy.
Although this record is impressive, it has been some time since the Rossoblu have had any real success - with no trophies since their Italian Cup win in 1974 and the last of their titles coming back in the 1963/64 season.
Recent history has seen the side bounce between Italy’s top two divisions as well as go through a number of financial problems but things are starting to come together for the club and it may not be long before the successes of the past become realistic targets for the future.
In October 2014, with Bologna in Serie B, a group of North American businessmen, led by New York lawyer Joe Tocopina and backed by the financial clout of Canadian Joey Saputo (owner of MLS Montreal Impact), had their takeover ratified by the board of directors.
Bologna, managed by Delio Rossi, finished the season in fourth place and returned to Serie A after beating Pescara in the play-offs.
Saputo has since taken over as the chair- man and sole owner at Bologna.
With promotion secure, Saputo stated that: “The priority is to build a competitive team which will enable Bologna to replicate the famous achievements of yesteryear.”
He wasn’t kidding; the club adopted an ambitious transfer policy with the marquee signings of Italian international Mattia Destro from Roma for £4.6 million and Saphir Taider on a two-year loan from Inter with an obligation to buy.
They also snapped up Emanuele Giacherini on a season-long loan from Sunderland and, perhaps the shrewdest signing of them all, Antonio Mirante on a free transfer. The goalkeeper was one of a number of players to leave Parma after the club was declared bankrupt at the end of last season and demoted to the fourth tier.
Despite all the new talent, Rossi’s men got off to a terrible start, losing seven of the first eight matches.
Rumblings about Rossi’s future started to circulate after Bologna’s 1-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Palermo which left them with only three points from a possible 24.
Despite a 2-1 victory away at Carpi, the final straw came with a 1-0 home defeat to Inter and Rossi was sacked on at the end of October. He was immediately replaced by Roberto Donadoni.
Donadoni had coached Italy to the quarterfinals of Euro 2008 and, more recently, guided Parma to three top half finishes in Serie A, including a sixth place finish at the end of the 2013-14 season.
It wasn’t just the successes at Parma that enhanced Donadoni’s reputation as coach but also the way he handled his final season at the Crociati.
With the club dogged by financial problems, he coached them through to the end of the season with great dignity, even managing a memorable 1-0 victory over the champions Juventus.
Despite this rare victory, the season ended with Parma bottom and bankrupt. It emerged that Donadoni and most of the staff and play-