LECCE – «The dismissal of Luca Gotti was a painful and particularly tiring choice from a human point of view. This is a purely technical choice, the result of evaluations of the team’s trend at the start of the championship.” President Saverio Sticchi Damiani thus explained the reasons that led to Gotti’s dismissal from the Lecce bench. The Giallorossi club has drawn up an initial assessment of this first part of the season and deemed a change in direction necessary. «The technical area highlighted a trend that required us to make an evaluation of this type – underlined Sticchi Damiani – in this championship I don’t want to have the scruple of not having done the best possible. The team today occupies the penultimate place in the table, has one of the worst defenses and the worst attack. Thus a reflection was imposed. However, the situation is not at all compromised. The decision is not only linked to the current ranking, it is a topic linked to tactical evaluations, with respect to which it was decided to try to reverse the trend. This choice shows that we want to leave no stone unturned in one of the most difficult tournaments of recent years. We want to do our best, putting our best foot forward, always and exclusively in the interests of the club.”
The president thanked Gotti for the eight months at the helm of the team: «I thank him for the work done. I consider him a great architect of last year’s salvation. It was very painful to tell him the news of his dismissal, especially from a personal point of view. But when it comes to having to think about the good of Lecce, these emotional sacrifices must also be faced.” Sticchi Damiani then took the opportunity to focus on the company policy aimed at preserving the economic balance, clearing away misunderstandings and controversies: «None of us took a euro, but only invested in the team. Club resources are used within the club. If we have the possibility to spend 50 and we only spend 10 it doesn’t mean we put the surplus in our pocket, but we use the resources to further structure the club. Today we are a solid club, which could even afford to go all-in for a year, buying players’ names without logic. But then what would be left? The budget is the greatest form of attention towards a fan. It means not thinking about yourself but about the future of the club.”
The manager of the technical area Pantaleo Corvino also underlined the reasons behind the choice of the change on the bench: «After twelve days we carried out some analyzes and each of us individually made some reflections. In the last four years we have always had a very specific identity, we have never been in the relegation zone, we have never conceded too many goals, we have never had the worst goal difference in the championship. This year after twelve days we found ourselves no longer seeing these aspects. There are times when the results don’t support you, there may be when you’re fighting for salvation, but you can never lose the team identity. If, in addition to results, there is no identity, some reflections need to be made.” The Salento manager then focused on the choice in the summer to sign a two-year contract with Gotti: «When you make choices you are always convinced that you are doing the best thing. Just like when you choose a footballer and you think he’s the right one, then he doesn’t turn out to be the right one and you’ve made a mistake. But it’s part of the game. At that moment we thought it was right to operate that way with Gotti’s contract. Today someone may say that the biennial was a mistake, but mistakes can be made in life. It was an act of trust on our part, today we made a different decision than the one we made in the summer.” Corvino then spoke about the team’s values, defending the choices made during the summer transfer market: «Gendrey was replaced with Guilbert. I am convinced that Guilbert is of equal value to Gendrey. Pongracic was replaced with Gaspar, I don’t think we lost out. Blin was sold and Pierret and Coulibaly arrived. In the last match there were nine players out of eleven who were also present in previous years, years during which we have never been in the last three places in the table. I don’t want to give alibis to the players, let’s be clear. But they are not machines, they are men who can make mistakes, just like us. We all strive to do our best.” The head of the technical area did not let anything slip out about the name of the next coach, even if all roads lead to Marco Giampaolo: «I told the president that I would like a person on the pitch. We must take a path common to all, otherwise we will end up in confusion. I want a coach who gives me answers.”
Finally, from the sports director Stefano Trinchera came an appeal for the unity of the environment: «We know our real dimension. The experts at the starting line of the championship always consider us as the first relegated. This happens every year. However, I wouldn’t give it to the defeatists. This square has shown that when it is compact it can make up for the difference in potential with other clubs. If you are compact you can always bring out something more. Those who fear us hope that things between us will go badly, but at the end of the championship we will take stock. For me, however, unity is too important an element. Let’s start again with a new coach and a team that needs everyone’s support.”
