Stefano Colantuono admits Salernitana had no hope against Inter or many of the other big Serie A clubs. ‘The gap seems too big this season.’
This was an embarrassing show of strength at the Stadio Arechi from the Scudetto holders, as the leaders are now 35 points clear of the bottom club and that gap was fully in evidence this evening.
It ended 5-0 and could’ve easily been worse, with five different Inter players on target.
“Unfortunately, we knew that this would be the sort of season Salernitana were going into,” Colantuono told Sky Sport Italia.
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“We’ve been up against six clubs who are clearly a step above us and there’s too much of a gap.
“I had in the past been at the helm of small clubs who were battling against relegation, but we could still have a go against the bigger sides. The gap seems too big this season.
“We end up having basically this mini-league that is against the five or six teams around us in the table and the others are just lost causes. It’s not a good situation.”
Salernitana are in even worse shape because the club has been up for sale since the summer, placed under a blind trust, and failure to find a buyer by December 31 could even see them excluded from the league.
This is because their owner Claudio Lotito also runs Lazio and it is against the rules for one person to control two clubs in the same division.
“When I arrived, this was already the situation, we were awaiting offers by December and a new owner to fund the January transfer activity,” explained Colantuono.
“I respect the Salernitana fans, I realise this situation is causing problems. I don’t know if the trust will allow us to operate on the market, but the fact is we’re not far off the other relegation-threatened teams and with a few additions, we could do something.”