The streets of Venice were quiet as Matteo Volanti rose from his bed. His eyes felt heavy, he took a deep breath of the humid air of his room. His laptop sat in the eye of the storm amongst all his books and notepads. Matteo Volanti was not one for sleeping. The official club journalist for his beloved Venezia FC, he had been told to get to the Pierluigi Penzo, Venezia’s stadium of 103 years, before 9:30 AM for a special announcement by the club at 10:00 AM, he suspected, for whoever was going to be the new manager of Venezia FC. He turned on his phone to check the time.

8:04 AM

Matteo packed his bag, brushed his teeth and ran his fingers through his hair a few times to make sure he looked presentable. A blast of deodorant was the final touch before pulling on his cotton pea coat and slipping on his shoes.

The time was now 8:33 AM, he made sure he had everything. Keys, wallet, phone, bag, and left his apartment. As he bought a coffee to wake himself up, he began to ponder just who the new man would be. The club had been very discreet in they went about this particular appointment, even he’d been left in the dark with regards to who it would be. It must have been a big name, surely? This was prime time for the legendary players he’d grown up watching to go into coaching, Cannavaro, Maldini, Zidane, Inzaghi. It would be a dream for one of them to get it, if for nothing more than the star power.

By now he’d reached the boats that went to and from the Isola di Sant’Elena Island, where the Pierluigi Penzo was based. It didn’t take long before he arrived at his destination.

The Stadio Pierluigi Penzo was an old ground, the second oldest for a professional club in Italy, having been open for over a century. It was a small, old ground that the club certainly couldn’t stay at for much longer without significant, and costly, repairs. But there a certain kind of beauty from it, it felt Venetian, it felt like home.

Matteo made his way through the corridors to the press room, but before he could reach it he was stopped by something. Standing to his right, in the next room over, was none other than Filippo Inzaghi. He looked in a pleasant mood and was speaking to Venezia’s chairman, New York lawyer, Joe Tacopina. This was the announcement, Pippo Inzaghi was Venezia’s new manager.

This was the start of history in the making for the Venetians…

Nice intro to the story

Great intro, love Italian football! Hopefully this is the start of something great.

Good luck man! Really good start to the story!

All: Thanks guys!

By Matteo Volanti

Venezia have announced that the new manager for the 2016/17 season will be Pippo Inzaghi, the former Milan and Juventus striker was unveiled at a press conference in the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo earlier today, along with Chairman Joe Tacopina.


Inzaghi was in a relaxed mood as he answered questions from BT Sport and Sky Italia as well as our very own journalist, Matteo Volanti. Pippo has given an optimistic view in his first meeting the media.


Inzaghi was also quizzed on the respective profiles of both himself and Venezia.


Chairman Joe Tacopina also added his opinion on the matter, stating the following.



Tacopina was also delighted to welcome Inzaghi, and shed more light onto his goals for the team.


Mr Tacopina also gave hints that a new stadium nay not be far away at the end of the conference.


Today will surely leave Venezia fans everywhere drooling at the prospect of what the future holds, for now though Pippo Inzaghi has to contend with the likes of Parma and Reggiana for the only automatic promotion in the Serie C/2. It promises to be an interesting season in Italy's third division.

Going to be challenging to say the least but a couple of good results and you'll really build up a head of steam!

That is one beautiful logo

With the list of players entering the Pierluigi Penzo now growing to four, Joe Tacopina has confirmed the club shall make no further deals in the summer transfer window of 2016.

Granddi N'doyi

The Lega Pro outfit started their summer business by bringing in Granddi N'doyi on a free transfer to beef up the midfield options. The DR Congo international has previously represented Paris Saint Germain, Nantes and Palermo in his career and despite interest from several Serie B sides, Lagunari have pulled off a small coup in earning the 28 year old's signature on a 2 year contract.

A tenacious, tough tackling midfielder. N'doyi will provide excellent foil for the creative talents of Simone Bentivoglio, Alex Pederzoli and Leo Stulac. He'll do the dirty work in the middle of the park.

Marco Cassetti

Another free transfer arrived in the form of 39 year old veteran Marco Cassetti, in a distinguished career that has seen him represent Roma, Lecce and the Italian national team on 5 occasions. He'll beef up the right back options at the club in the short term as well as providing invaluable experience at the highest level.

Able to function not only as a right back, but also in the centre of defence. Cassetti is a technically astute defender, able to help provide a solid defensive base and provide a capable helping hand in attack also.

Luca Pellegrini

The first of two loan signings, Luca Pellegrini arrives from the capital with a promising reputation in Italian football. He'll provide stiff competition for Agostino Garofalo, and with an optional fee in his contract of £1,200,000. If he impresses during this campaign, his move could become permanent.

An attacked minded full back, Pellegrini is very much the modern day defender. Athletic, with an ability to attack as well as any winger, he'll not only provide Venezia's attacks with quality crosses. But is also strong in the tackle with a solid reading of the game.

Mamadou Tounkara

The 4th and final signing of the summer, which was announced today, Mamadou Tounkara on loan from Lazio. With Alex Geijo and Nicola Ferrari both ageing, at 34 and 33 respectively, Tounkara provides youthful exuberance to the Venezia attack. Like Pellegrini he has an optional fee in his loan contract, of £1,500,000. Like Pellegrini, if he impresses during this season, his loan stay at the Penzo could be made into a permanent one.

A powerful striker, who can also function out wide. He can hold the ball up but also play off of a target man. Expect to see him start up front with fellow Spaniard Geijo during the season.

Following Tounkara's arrival, Joe Tacopina and Pippo Inzaghi both confirmed that Venezia will not be drawn into negotiations for any other players and will enter into this season with their current squad:

Goalkeepers

1. Davide Facchin
12. Nicola Sambo
22. Guglielmo Vicario (on loan from Udinese)

Defenders

2. Luca Pellegrini (on loan from Roma)
5. Alessandro Malomo
6. Maurizio Domizzi
13. Marco Modolo
14. Paolo Pellicano
25. Francesco Cernuto
26. Agostino Garofalo
27. Marco Cassetti
29. Giuseppe Zampano

Midfielders

4. Alex Pederzoli
7. Simone Bentivoglio
8. Evans Soligo
11. Loris Tortori
15. Leo Stulac
16. Davide Marsura
17. Giuseppe Caccavallo (on loan from Salernitana)
21. Alberto Acquadro
23. Granddi N'doyi
24. Vittorio Fabris
28. Marcello Falzerano
31. Matteo Marcolini

Strikers

9. Mamadou Tounkara (on loan from Lazio)
18. Stefano Moreo (on loan from Virtus Entella)
19. Alex Geijo
20. Nicola Ferrari

Optimism has returned to Venice, the tools look to be in place for a real challenge for promotion to Serie B. Is this the year that Venezia climb out of the darkness of Lega Pro and Serie D for the first time since 2005?

Looking forward to this mate, a very interesting side and a decent squad at your disposal in areas so who knows what may happen.

Looks to be a decent squad you've got there mate, hopefully it can hit the ground running with some good initial results!

Very very good start to the story, good luck!

All: Thanks guys!

With pre season wrapped, we spoke to manager Pippo Inzaghi about his thoughts on joining Venezia, pre season, transfers and the season ahead!

By Matteo Volanti

Ciao Pippo, welcome to Venezia!

Ciao!

How have you found life at Lagunari so far?

Fantastic, I've been very impressed by the quality of players and staff. Everyone has worked so hard in pre season, we've tried different systems and tactics so far. The results and performances have been good, very encouraging. We're all raring to go.

You mentioned how well the players have done in pre season, what about our new signings specifically? How have they integrated?

They've been fantastic, they've all worked really well. They've all been thoroughly professional, everyone's settled in well. Marco (Cassetti) has especially impressed us all with his fitness, he's played professionally for over 20 years and at his age it's not as easy as when he was younger. But he's trained just as hard as everyone else and is feeling positive about the season ahead.

Venice is known around the world as the city on water, but not for its football team. What attracted you to the job?

The project, it's an inviting challenge ahead here. Joe Tacopina, the chairman, played a major part in convincing me. He speaks so positively about the future and ambition of Venezia and you can tell there is a vision and plan in place to create the success. Everyone is on the same page and to have that structure and support from the board is a must for any manager.

You mentioned the ambition of the club, is it fair to say that promotion to Serie B is the target this season?

I’d say so yes, we want to set ourselves high targets and be ambitious so promotion will always be a target until we reach Serie A. Of course that’s not to say that if we don't achieve that goal this season that it's a disaster, at Venezia we're setting ourselves high targets, but there's also a belief of patience and allowing time for me and the players to get it right and that makes for a far more relaxed environment that allows us to go about our work in a more natural manner.

And finally is there a message you'd like to give to the Venezia fans ahead of the season?

Yes, thank you for welcoming me to this fantastic club, I believe we're about to embark on a very special journey and I hope your amazing support can continue throughout this season as well as those to come in the future. Forza Venezia!

Great to see you back on the site and with the story too. Hopefully you can start the season well.