PAOLO VANOLI: “WE’VE SETTLED WELL BUT THERE IS STILL LOTS OF HARD WORK TO DO”
19 October 2015
Paolo Vanoli speaks to the media after his team beat Imolese 3-1 at the Ennio Tardini.
________________________________________
- Manager believes side are well positioned to push for promotion this year
- Attacking football he is trying to implement is in the clubs blood
- Fans need to be strong for the time being
Parma manager Paolo Vanoli has today spoken to the media after his team put in their best performance of the season at the Stadio Ennio Tardini, beating Imolese 3-1 in a comfortable victory. With Parma seemingly struggeling to find form at the beginning of the season at their own stadium, fans have been disgruntled slightly after the teams performances away from home, sometime at venues hosting less than a thousand people, have been more pleasing and the team have put in very good performances on the road. Eurosport today finally got the chance to catch up with the Parma manager and get his thoughts on how the clubs rebuilding process is going.
Eurosport: “Thank you for allowing us to interview you today Paolo. You’re nine games into your debut season as a manager at this big club. How do you think it is going so far?”
Paolo Vanoli: “Yeah I think we’re doing well. We might be off the pace a little bit at the top of the table, but I’d be lying if we hadn’t settled down well so far this year. However that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of hard work to do, before you even take into account the fact that we still have to play 29 more games. But you asked me how it was going so far, and I would have to say it is going well. Second in the table is a fair reflection of where we are at, at this moment in time and we have to be happy with that.”
Eurosport: “Surely your aims for this season are about securing promotion and returning to professional football?”
Vanoli: “Yes of course. We might have been relegated down to the fourth tier of the league system, but I think the rebranding of this club and the rebuilding process off the pitch is going really well. We’ve got a very good squad here for the level we are at, and it is one that should be pushing for the league title and pushing for that promotion to the professional level of football here.”
Eurosport: “Obviously, only one team gets promoted from this level, meaning that the push is going to be extra hard. There is no room for error in the race for promotion, are you sure your team is up to it?”
Vanoli: “Haha this is very similar to that last question, but yes I do think we can go up this year and achieve top spot. Like I said the quality of the squad is top drawer for this level and we are more than good enough to go all the way, lift that title and earn a place in the Lega Pro next year.”
The Parma players celebrate after the 3-1 victory over Imolese finally pleases the fans with their best home performance of the season.
Eurosport: “You obviously know this club very well from your playing days here. Back then, in the team that won the 1999 UEFA Cup Final you had the likes of Gigi Buffon, Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo in the team. Do you think that this club can have that sort of line up again in the near future?”
Vanoli: “Yes of course I do. That line up was something incredible haha and I was probably the one player that wasn’t nearly world class. Gigi, Fabio [Cannavaro], Veron and Hernan were and still are, world class players, and it would be brilliant if this club can return to that level sooner rather than later, but first things first, is getting out of this division.”
Eurosport: Paolo, can you understand why fans were slightly grumbled by the fact that away from home Parma have looked a lot better than they have done at the Ennio Tardini this season?”
Vanoli: “Obviously yes. The Ennio Tardini is one of the bigger stadiums in this division, and 8,000 people roughly have been coming to see us this year, whilst when you compare this to the away days, where 800 came to watch us in our first away game. Our performances at home haven’t been as good as the ones away from home and we know we need to address this, but hopefully we did just that against Imolese.”
Eurosport: Okay, that about concludes this interview Paolo. Thank you very much for attending.”
Vanoli: “Thank you very much, take care.”