2006–07 U.S. Città di Palermo season

U.S. Città di Palermo
2006–07 season
Chairman Maurizio Zamparini
Manager Francesco Guidolin (Days 1-33, 36-38)
Renzo Gobbo (Days 34-36)
Serie A 5th (UEFA Cup)
UEFA Cup Group stage
Coppa Italia Round of 16
Top goalscorer League: Eugenio Corini (10)
All: Eugenio Corini and David Di Michele (10)
Highest home attendance 34,261 (vs Catania – September 20, 2006)
Lowest home attendance 8,521 (vs Sampdoria – November 30, 2006)

U.S. Città di Palermo played the season 2006-07 in the Serie A league. It has been the third season in a row for Palermo in the top division of Italy.

Contents

Review and events

See also: Serie A 2006-07, UEFA Cup 2006-07, and 2007 Catania football violence

Palermo initially ended the 2005-06 season in eighth place, and thus was expected to play the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006. Meanwhile, Francesco Guidolin was re-hired at Giuseppe Papadopulo's place. However, due to the Serie A scandal of 2006, the FIGC had stated they would not enter Palermo into the Intertoto Cup.

After the verdicts penalized numerous clubs, Palermo's overall position for that season was elevated to 5th, meaning they had qualified for the 2006-2007 UEFA Cup. In the transfer window, Palermo spent millions adding players to their squad, including Aimo Diana, Mark Bresciano, Fábio Simplício and Amauri, but sold World Cup winner Fabio Grosso to Internazionale. Several football experts and pundits tipped Palermo to do well in the season ahead, including Alessandro Del Piero.[1]

They started well by knocking out English side West Ham United in the UEFA Cup. However, this time around the group stage proved to be more difficult than the previous year, and Palermo finished last in a group that contained Celta de Vigo, Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahçe SK and Newcastle United.

For the first time in its history Palermo sat on top of the Serie A table in September 2006 after beating Catania 5-3 at home in the Sicilian derby. Another notable victory, was a 2-0 away win to AC Milan at San Siro stadium. A serious knee injury for Amauri caused Palermo to replace the powerful striker, and Uruguayan Edison Cavani and Polish Radosław Matusiak were signed in the Winter transfer market, together with midfielders Maurizio Ciaramitaro and Guillermo Giacomazzi.

On February 2, 2007 Palermo was involved in a controversial away Sicilian derby match which was suspended for 30 minutes during the second half after some tear gas explosions from outside the stadium, used by the police to minimize hooliganism outside the Massimino Stadium, drifted onto the playing area. After the match, violence went on and policeman Filippo Raciti was killed by a small explosive launched by a Catania hooligan.[2] This led Commissioner Luca Pancalli to suspend indefinitely football leagues and national team matches in the whole country. Following these events Palermo, which was clearly third-placed at the time, was not able to achieve a single victory, and dropped to sixth position in the Serie A. Maurizio Zamparini, the chairman, became more and more critical of Guidolin, who was finally sacked on April 23 following a 3-4 home defeat to third-last placed Parma which extended the run of poor results to 11 games without a single win. Assistant coach Renzo Gobbo and youth team coach Rosario Pergolizzi were subsequently appointed as caretaker coaches at Guidolin's place.[3] On their debut match, Pergolizzi and Gobbo led Palermo to a 2-1 away win at Livorno, finally ending the negative run.[4] The victory was however followed by two further defeats, including an upset 3-2 away loss against last-placed team Ascoli, already relegated to Serie B, which left the rosanero in seventh place, the last UEFA Cup spot, only three points above Atalanta. The events led Zamparini to reappoint Guidolin as head coach for the remaining two matches.[5] Guidolin's return brought two victories, to Siena[6] and Udinese, clinched fifth place in the final table, qualification to the UEFA Cup 2007-08 for the third consecutive time and broke its previous record of 53 points of two years before.[7]

Match results

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Serie A

Date and time Opponent Venue Result Scorers Attendance
September 10, 2006 – 15.00 Reggina Home Won 4-3 Bresciano, Biava, Corini, Amauri 24,509
September 17, 2006 – 15.00 Lazio Away Won 2-1 Di Michele (2) 20,395
September 20, 2006 – 20.30 Catania Home Won 5-3 Tedesco, Simplício, Corini, Amauri, Barzagli 34,261
September 24, 2006 – 15.00 Empoli Away Lost 0-2 4,672
October 1, 2006 – 20.30 Chievo Away Won 1-0 Corini 6,184
October 15, 2006 – 15.00 Atalanta Home Lost 2-3 Bresciano, Corini 21,716
October 22, 2006 – 20.30 AC Milan Away Won 2-0 Bresciano, Amauri 50,028
October 25, 2006 – 20.30 Messina Home Won 2-1 Zaccardo, Di Michele 28,547
October 29, 2006 – 15.00 Fiorentina Away Won 3-2 Di Michele, Amauri (2) 34,050
November 5, 2006 – 15.00 Sampdoria Home Won 2-0 Corini, Zaccardo 22,244
November 12, 2006 – 15.00 Torino Home Won 3-0 Corini, Di Michele, Amauri 26,642
November 18, 2006 – 20.30 Cagliari Away Lost 0-1 Bresciano, Biava, Corini, Amauri ?
November 26, 2006 – 20.30 Inter Home Lost 1-2 Amauri 34,095
December 3, 2006 – 15.00 Parma Away Drew 0-0 14,173
December 9, 2006 – 20.30 Livorno Home Won 3-0 Simplício (2), Amauri 20,441
December 17, 2006 – 20.30 AS Roma Away Lost 0-4 40,124
December 20, 2006 – 20.30 Ascoli Home Won 4-0 Bresciano, Corini, Tedesco, Capuano 19,485
December 23, 2006 – 15.00 Siena Away Drew 1-1 Simplício 6,411
January 14, 2007 – 15.00 Udinese Home Won 2-0 Caracciolo, Zaccardo 20,913
January 20, 2007 – 20.30 Reggina Away Drew 0-0 11,745
January 27, 2007 – 20.30 Lazio Home Lost 0-3 22,453
February 2, 2007 – 18.00 Catania Away Won 2-1 Caracciolo, Di Michele 21,000
February 11, 2007 – 15.00 Empoli Home Lost 0-1 19,144
February 18, 2007 – 15.00 Chievo Home Drew 1-1 Di Michele 22,057
February 24, 2007 – 20.30 Atalanta Away Drew 1-1 Diana 8,092
February 28, 2007 – 15.00 AC Milan Home Drew 0-0 25,361
March 4, 2007 – 15.00 Messina Away Lost 0-2 11,521
March 11, 2007 – 15.00 Fiorentina Home Drew 1-1 Cavani 22,476
March 17, 2007 – 20.30 Sampdoria Away Drew 1-1 Cavani 17,596
April 1, 2007 – 15.00 Torino Away Drew 0-0 20,932
April 7, 2007 – 15.00 Cagliari Home Lost 1-3 Bresciano 21,655
April 15, 2007 – 20.30 Inter Away Drew 2-2 Caracciolo, Zaccardo 46,611
April 22, 2007 – 20.30 Parma Home Lost 3-4 Bresciano, Di Michele, Zaccardo 21,472
April 29, 2007 – 15.00 Livorno Away Won 2-1 Corini, Di Michele 7,750
May 6, 2007 – 15.00 AS Roma Home Lost 1-2 Tedesco 24,680
May 13, 2007 – 15.00 Ascoli Away Lost 2-3 Simplício, Matusiak 4,352
May 20, 2007 – 15.00 Siena Home Won 2-1 Corini, Caracciolo 20,043
May 27, 2007 – 15.00 Udinese Away Won 2-1 Caracciolo, Corini 5,000

UEFA Cup

Date and time Round Opponent Venue Result Scorers Attendance
September 14, 2006 – 21.00 1st Round – 1st Leg West Ham Away Won 1-0 Caracciolo 32,222[8]
September 28, 2006 – 20.45 1st Round – 2nd Leg West Ham Home Won 3-0 Simplício (2), Di Michele 19,284[9]
October 19, 2006 – 18.15 Group Stage Eintracht Frankfurt Away Won 2-1 Brienza, Zaccardo 50,000[10]
November 2, 2006 – 20.45 Group Stage Newcastle Home Lost 0-1 16,091[11]
November 23, 2006 – 19.00 Group Stage Fenerbahçe Away Lost 0-3 39,071[12]
December 13, 2006 – 20.45 Group Stage Celta Vigo Home Drew 1-1 Tedesco 10,222[13]

Coppa Italia

Date and time Round Opponent Venue Result Scorers Attendance
November 8, 2006 – 20.30 Round of 16 – 1st Leg Sampdoria Away Lost 0-1 9,120
November 30, 2006 – 21.00 Round of 16 – 2nd Leg Sampdoria Home Lost 2-3 Guana, Brienza 8,521

Player details

No. Nat Pos Player Total Serie A UEFA Cup Coppa Italia
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Federico Agliardi 11 -17 9 -13 1 -1 1 -3
12 GK Alberto Fontana 35 -36 31 -38 4 2 0 0
20 GK Salvatore Sirigu 2 -4 0 0 1 -3 1 -1
2 DF Cristian Zaccardo 42 6 36 5 5 1 1 0
15 DF Hernán Paolo Dellafiore 13 0 7 0 4 0 2 0
16 DF Mattia Cassani 37 0 30 0 5 0 2 0
21 DF Giuseppe Biava 26 1 23 1 3 0 0 0
26 DF Marco Pisano 39 0 33 0 5 0 1 0
32 DF Ciro Capuano 9 1 7 1 2 0 0 0
43 DF Andrea Barzagli (vice-captain) 42 1 36 1 5 0 1 0
53 DF Alberto Cossentino 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
4 MF Giovanni Tedesco 31 4 26 3 3 1 2 0
5 MF Eugenio Corini (captain) 29 10 27 10 2 0 0 0
8 MF Aimo Diana 29 1 26 1 3 0 0 0
14 MF Roberto Guana 40 1 33 0 6 0 1 1
18 MF Guillermo Giacomazzi 7 0 7 0 0 0 0 0
22 MF Maurizio Ciaramitaro 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 0
23 MF Mark Bresciano 39 6 34 6 4 0 1 0
30 MF Fábio Simplício 41 7 33 5 6 2 2 0
50 MF Nicola Ficano 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
90 MF Franco Brienza 29 2 22 0 5 1 2 1
7 FW Edison Cavani 7 2 7 2 0 0 0 0
9 FW Radosław Matusiak 3 1 3 1 0 0 0 0
10 FW Andrea Caracciolo 35 6 27 5 6 1 2 0
11 FW Amauri 19 8 18 8 0 0 1 0
17 FW David Di Michele 33 10 29 9 4 1 0 0
Players sold or loaned out during the January transfer market:
3 DF Cesare Bovo 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
18 MF Francesco Parravicini 14 0 8 0 5 0 1 0
22 MF Gianni Munari 5 0 0 0 3 0 2 0

January transfer market bids

In
18 MF Guillermo Giacomazzi (on loan from Lecce)
22 MF Maurizio Ciaramitaro (loan return from Parma)
7 FW Edison Cavani (from Danubio)
9 FW Radosław Matusiak (from GKS Bełchatów)
Out
3 DF Cesare Bovo (loaned to Torino)
18 MF Francesco Parravicini (loaned to Parma, co-owned with Fiorentina)
22 MF Gianni Munari (loaned to Lecce)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Another kicking for southern Italy’s football". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7030a9c0-65df-11db-a4fc-0000779e2340.html. Retrieved 2007-05-04. 
  2. ^ "Italian league halted by violence". BBC News. February 2, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6326513.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-04. 
  3. ^ "Palermo dismiss Guidolin as coach". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/football/04/23/italy.palermo.reut/. Retrieved 2007-05-04. 
  4. ^ "Best possible start for Gobbo". Sporting Life. http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/italy/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/07/04/29/SOCCER_Ita-Livorno__Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=italy. Retrieved 2007-05-04. 
  5. ^ "Soccer-Sacked Guidolin returns to coach Palermo". Reuters. May 14, 2007. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldFootballNews/idUKL1464512920070514. Retrieved 2007-05-14. 
  6. ^ "Palermo 2 - 1 Siena". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20070519085110/http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/sa0607/pal-sie.html. Retrieved 2007-05-21. 
  7. ^ "Guidolin expects Palermo departure". Tribal Football. Archived from the original on 2007-05-23. http://web.archive.org/web/20070523101855/http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=40265. Retrieved 2007-05-21. 
  8. ^ "West Ham 0 - 1 Palermo". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=205557&cc=5739. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
  9. ^ "Palermo 3-0 West Ham: Sicilian massacre". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=206703&. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
  10. ^ "Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Palermo: Zaccardo late strike". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=206703&. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
  11. ^ "Palermo 0 - 1 Newcastle". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=206720&cc=5739. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
  12. ^ "Fenerbahce 3 - 0 Palermo". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=206735&cc=5739. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
  13. ^ "Palermo 1 - 1 Celta Vigo". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=206752&cc=5739. Retrieved 2007-09-16. 
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