La Potenza Della Speranza e il Secondo Miracolo

Chapter 5: Jaconi

Bruno invited me to la societa's office on the second floor of the tall block. He said he wanted to talk about the possible candidates to replace Paolo Bagnara as manager. I arrived at 1:15, a quarter of an hour before we had originally arranged. I didn't want to be late. I knocked on the door. "Avanti!" Come in. I entered the room slowly, and looked around to see Bruno and another man. He was old, gray hair, wrinkles and a strong glare. Underneath his nose was a finely-trimmed moustache. Merda! S**t! I recognised him! It was Osvaldo Jaconi! Merda! Of all people...

Jaconi had been manager at Castel di Sangro before. He led the team in Serie B, where the team survived for a season but he was sacked and we fell down back to Serie C. He preffered a defensive, long ball game, and he was an expert at making substitutions, two odd switches which worked were what got the team to C1, and then B. He had countless arguments with my father.

"So Osvaldo will be the new manager?" I asked Bruno.
"Yes I will!" Jaconi butted in.
"I think he can lead us to safety. We obviously don't have a great squad but la potenza della speranza should see us through, and Mr.Jaconi has high hopes for us." Bruno replied.
Wait a minute, I thought. The townspeople loved Jaconi after his previous spell. Could he do it again? Or was this just a PR stunt to get people onboard? I walked out of the room, wondering what the thinking behind the decision was.

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Chapter 6: Melfi

It'll end just as it is expected to. Relegation to Serie D. It may be a little early to be thinking these things but when an expert coach like Osvaldo Jaconi can not turn it around you know you are doomed. It is the kind of situation Jaconi thrives in but when we play a team like Melfi and lose 3-0, we know it is the end. Even though they were supposed to be one of the leagues top teams they were poor. We played well.

The first goal came after just a lapse in concentration from Scordella, allowing the Melfi player to run past him and fire a shot past Negrini. "Che cazzo!" I heard Jaconi shout at Scordella. For f**ks sake. If anyone, it should have been Taddei who Jaconi shouted at. Although the goal was clearly Scordella's fault, he had played well otherwise and so had everyone else except for Taddei, who was wasting chances everytime the ball came to him. Armando di Sorbo had been trying to assist him yet he kept placing the ball wide of the goal or over the crossbar.

The teams went in at half-time with Castel di Sangro losing by one goal, yet it would soon be two after one of the worst refereeing decisions I'd ever seen. Cavallaro crossed the ball, but it was blocked by Scordella, and it fell to their striker Corce, who Scordella tackled. The ball fell to our defender Del Ponte, and the Melfi player pushed him over and promptly scored. Jaconi was furious.Vergogna! L'arbitro è una vergogna! Ogni partita puzzolente perdiamo a causa del l'arbitro merda! Disgrace! The referee is a disgrace! Every stinking match we lose because of the crap referees!

The 3rd goal was not the fault of the arbitro for once. It was the fault of Andrea Karkalis as he attempted a clearance away from goal, but miscued it into the net. Jaconi was speechless and so was I. Che diavolo è stato?