SPAL President Walter Mattioli admits their campaign has been “remarkable” and he intends to extend their Serie A stay further, but won’t stand in the way of Manuel Lazzari’s career.
This evening’s 4-0 victory away to Chievo was decisive to secure their top flight status for another season and even temporarily took them into the top half of the table.
SPAL President Walter Mattioli admits their campaign has been “remarkable” and he intends to extend their Serie A stay further, but won’t stand in the way of Manuel Lazzari’s career.
This evening’s 4-0 victory away to Chievo was decisive to secure their top flight status for another season and even temporarily took them into the top half of the table.
“It has been a remarkable season and right now we are in 10th place, ahead of more prestigious clubs, so I am very, very happy,” the President told Sky Sport Italia.
“It won’t be easy to repeat a campaign like this, but we’ve been working on the future for a while now. The season isn’t over yet and I would love for us to finish in front of our home fans with some exciting results against big clubs like Napoli and Milan.
“Ours is a sporting family rather than a club and I trust we’ll continue with Leonardo Semplici on the bench, as he seems happy with us and we are certainly more than satisfied with him.”
Over the last eight rounds, SPAL have won six, drawn one and lost only one, including victories over Roma, Lazio and Juventus.
“We had started the season so strong, but then a few surprise defeats against teams that were on our level had created some tension and sapped motivation.
“We all sat down to talk it out, got back on track and in fact the tough fixture list helped us, as in the second half of the season it was extra motivation to host big clubs in our stadium.”
Manuel Lazzari has been linked to the likes of Napoli, Roma, Milan and more, but Mattioli won’t stand in the winger’s way.
“Nobody has asked yet, but we’ll see what happens. He is one of my lads who has been here for seven years, so I’ll see, because it wouldn’t be fair to hold back the career of one of our lads if he has a big opportunity.
“There is a particular alchemy between the team, city of Ferrara and the fans. We do everything together and hope to continue what we’ve done over the last six years since we moved up from the lower divisions. It makes me proud too to continue this work in my city.
“We don’t have the budget of other clubs, but with enthusiasm and passion, hopefully we can keep Ferrara and SPAL in Serie A for many years.”