šļø Season 2 ā The Summer of Temptation
The summer began, as most managerial downfalls do, with a thought you really should have ignored.
Lazio were available.
Or more accurately: their manager wasnāt anymore.
And suddenly there it was. The job you donāt apply for so much as fantasise about accidentally walking into.
Because Atalanta, for all their efficiency, had become something far more dangerous than failure:
They were reliable.
A well-oiled machine. A system. A club that behaved itself.
And there is nothing less inspiring in football management than a club that behaves itself.
Lazio, on the other hand, did not behave like anything in particular. Lazio felt like potential. Like chaos waiting for instructions. Like a Renaissance painting someone had left half-finished out of spite.
Past players remembered; VerĆ³n. NedvÄd. Nesta. Crespo.
Just thinking about it was enough to make you question your current employment.
Act I: The Quiet Exit Plan
The first decision was not emotional. It was financial.
So the trimming began.
Charles De KetelaereāāThe Kettleāāwas the first to go, lured away by Saudi Arabia on wages so absurd he effectively became the best-paid footballer on the planet. Ā£800k a week. Which is not a contract so much as a historical event.
Scamacca was harder. He always is. Thereās always one player who refuses to leave quietly, even when everyone agrees it would make sense.
Lookman wasā¦ considered. Carefully. Silently. Like someone looking at the last slice of cake before a life decision.
And all the while, Atalanta sat there, offering a Ā£5m transfer budget like it was an insult rather than a limitation.
So you did what all rational managers do in that situation:
you made it work anyway.
Act II: The Warchest and the Warning Signs
Sales stacked up.
Numbers improved.
Confidence returned.
A Ā£70m war chest appeared out of nowhere like it had always been waiting to be discovered under the floorboards of Bergamo.
And with it came the first signing.
Vitor Roque.
A player both you and Alex had tried to sign. He chose you. Which, in hindsight, should probably have been the first sign that something slightly strange was happening with reality.
A forward line begins to form in your head. A Scudetto challenge starts to feel less like ambition and more like inevitability.
Which is always when football taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it has other plans.
Act III: The Double Life
Because while Atalanta were being quietly rebuilt into something dangerous, another plan was already in motion.
A CV. Submitted. Quietly. Through the assistant manager.
Lazio were not supposed to know yet.
But they did.
Or at least, they guessed enough.
And so came the interview.
Which, rather awkwardly, did not go as planned.
Lazio were not impressed.
They wanted something more convincing. More established. Less āman who has been emotionally drifting towards Rome for three months.ā
And for a brief moment, it looked like the dream might stay a dream.
Act IV: The Call
Then the phone rang.
Lazio had changed their mind.
They wanted you.
Atalanta panicked immediately. Offers were made. Facilities were improved. Training grounds suddenly became places of importance they had never previously demonstrated.
But it was too late.
Because at that point, this was no longer a decision about football.
It was about narrative.
Atalanta were structure.
Lazio were temptation.
Atalanta were stable progression.
Lazio were unfinished marble.
And you do not spend a summer staring at Michelangeloās workshop and then politely walk away.
Final Act: The Move South
The decision was made.
Atalanta became the past.
Lazio became the present.
A private jet replaced the sensible commute.
And somewhere over Italy, between the discipline of Bergamo and the chaos of Rome, the realisation set in:
This was no longer a project.
It was a gamble.
And football, as always, loves a man who confuses the two.
2024-25 Part 1 (Lazio) – Iain
The Eternal City Calls: Enter Lazio and the New Rise of Rome
Stepping off the private jet and I instantly feel the Roman heat hit my face. How does it make me feel? Alive.
There are only a smattering of fans to greet me, but thatās fine. Rome is the home of the mighty gladiators, of the Emperors and is the capital city – I need to earn the right to be here. Iām not in Bergamo anymore; Vito, my local baker who supplied me with my morning espresso and cornetto every day as I commuted to the Atalanta training ground, gifted me a final box of treats on the day I left and thatās all I have brought with me as well as a promise to exchange Christmas cards come the season. My football season at Atalanta was about as successful as I could have hoped for barring a first Italian Cup but that is all behind me now. Rome, on the Sky Blue side is where the future lies.
Sarri, their former manager was chased out of the city after a lowly 9th place finish, two points behind their bitter city rivals. Lazio are a shadow of their former selves. Think Juan Veron, Diego Simeone and perhaps their greatest child Alessandro Nesta. Lazio last won the Scudetto back in the 1999-2000 season – 24 long years ago. Four Coppa Italia wins have come since then but at a club the size and stature of Lazio, I have only one aim and that is to become the best team in Italy.
I Biancocelesti – The White and Sky Blues. The name has an angelic feel to it. Rome is really the only place to be in Italy. It is Mount Olympus to Florenceās inferior Mount Othrys. Where Rome calls for grid, determination and often violence, Florence is a single football club city whose players and fans parade around in their not so subtle purple shirts. This is the heart of the country and thus where the heart of Italian football lies. Everywhere else is inferior. With that being said, Lazio are in a transitional phase with humble aims for European qualification. Lazio finished 9th last season – I am not a miracle worker. I am not the Pope. I am not Caesar. Rome was not built in a day and this club needs knocking down and re-building. Actually that is something a Roman Emperor would have to do.
Enter, Emperor Fentonius.
The Great Rebuild
At first I had great respect for the board as I was by no means a front-runner for the Lazio job. My time at Atalanta was successful but also very short – I was not a sure thing. However, they then gave me a pitiful transfer budget of just shy of Ā£6million. A doubt crossed my mind, this was going to take some work.
After taking a look at the first team squad sheet, I quickly realised that my core starting XI was talented. The rest? Not so much. I shifted out a lot of the elderly players who were hogging wages bigger than any of my former Atalanta players bar Scammacca and these guys were backup players at best. Out they went. Brought in were several players I already had on my shortlist courtesy of the Atalanta scouting team. These guys were brought in to add depth, they were not starting XI material but they were all brought in for small fees and were on considerably lower wager compared to those I booted out of my Empire.
New full backs were brought in, as were a few CBs to add depth. I tried to sign mostly Italian players. I brought in three of my former Atalanta players, none of whom were ever regulars for me though. I knew they were made of stern stuff, however.
Of course, my transfer budget was low so at this stage I couldnāt sign any potential starting XI players. Then a moment of fortune – a gift from the Gods, if you will. Juventus signed a striker from Majorca, god knows what his name was but they spent heavily and the player was a former Lazio man. They had a future transfer clause in his contract and we benefited with a handsome 15mil which went straight into the transfer coffers. It was at this point where other clubs were sniffing around my players too. Man United decided to hit me up again. At Atalanta, they paid me over 30m for a talented Brazilian central midfielder. At Lazio, they did almost the exact same thing again. Only this time, Liverpool were watching too and not to be outdone, they eclipsed the Manchester bid by over 10m Marcos Antonio was sold to Liverpool for Ā£31.5m. He is a good player but he was happy to leave and to be honest I could hardly walk around the Formello training ground without bumping into top quality CMs. This cash freed me up to bring in several signings including a replacement CM in the form of Ricci from Milan for a third of the price and Pobega, also from Milan for just Ā£2m.
An Italian striker Crespi was signed too – heās been a regular in the italian youth teams but the real reason he was signed was due to his name. Close enough isnāt it?
At this point, I began to look back at Lazio’s last title winning side. Their tactical setup was interesting and I thought about replicating it. Could it be done, yes I thought so. Then I played a couple of friendly matches and thought differently. But then something else came into my head. Many of Lazioās former title winning side now have sonās who also play football. In came Giulliano Simone, (son of Diego) which was something of a coup considering he rejected Napoli. I had my eye on two more sonās but for now they would have to wait.
In the meantime, Alex had arranged a āPurple Trophyā cup which he won on his home patch. I didnāt even accept the invitation, it was just accepted for me. In protest which he likely never noticed, I played my backup players in all but one of the matches. So that cup doesnāt count.
The season was now approaching but it was at this point where something occurred which I did not particularly want to occur. My CM rock, the 24 year old who I was going to build the team around and who was a potential Lazio and Italy captain, wanted to toss it all away to go to Saudi Arabia. I rejected several bids. He wasnāt happy. He then caused a mini mutiny. Another bid came in. I negotiated it up – Ā£40m was accepted on the eve of deadline day.
The Season Begins
By now the season was well and truly under way. I had a few formations in mind but I had not stuck on any of them. I wanted to play a three man defence with a Libero – we are in Italy after all. But it just did not feel right. I did not have the players for it. The first game was against newly promoted Modena, I scraped through with a 3:2 win. My wingbacks did okay but they were supposed to be arguably my main creative force.
Inter away was next, the toughest match on the calendar I would say now Ange was at the helm. This was just before the transfer window was about to slam shut. A 0:4 drubbing and my goalkeeper Ivan was terrible. We did not play badly but it gave me the incentive to spend some of my riches on a new GK. I called up my old club Atalanta and told them I had a bag full of cash for Carnesschi, the big Italian goalie. Somehow, the deal got over the line before the window closed – a huge signing and for a great price at just Ā£11m rising to Ā£14m. I was chuffed to bits until I received a surprise text from my former baker Vito. I thought this day would get better and better, first I would bring in a potential Balonādor winning GK and now I am about to be sent another suitcase load of tasty treats. Not quite. āVaffanculo e muori, idiota ingleseā read the text, roughly translated this means āFuck off and die You English Twatā I guess I wonāt be on his Christmas card list after all.
The Genes Are Strong in These Ones
In total I managed to sign three sons of former Lazio icons as well as one current Lazio icon. First in was the aforementioned Simeone, son of Diego. Second in was Francisco Conceicao, son of Sergio and Aleksandar Stankovic, son of Dejan. One of my final signings was a literal Legend of the club, Sergej MilinkoviÄ-SaviÄ who will now be known simply as SMS given the difficulty in writing and spelling his name.
All three sons and legend arrived lacking sharpness and without Europe, it would take some time to get them fully match fit.
Classic Lazio to Modern Lazio
After studying the formation and tactics used by the last Lazio title winning team, I initially thought that I would not have the players to replicate it, but in fact, I kind of do! The quality isnāt quite as high but I have very similar players who can play in the same roles.
The flat back four is the same and then I have a central midfield three which play in the same way as Diego Simeone, Veron and Almeyda. Taty, my striker, plays very similar to Marcelo Salas with his contributing assists and goal scoring ability. However, the secret to the power of this team (and I hope success) comes in the form of Zacagni who is taking the role of both Nedved and Mancini and is the best player I have ever managed. At Atalanta I had the likes of Lookman but Zacagni is far superior and he will be a major factor as to how my first season will turn out.