At 20:30 on the 5th September 2015 the Serie B season kicked off, a marathon 279 days later it finally came to its conclusion.
Those days in between would see history be made, sackings galore, joy and anguish amongst hundreds of thousands of football fans plus so much more. Often seen as the purgatory of Italian football, a place where clubs go and are seldom heard from again, Serie B has proven oh so much more than that and if anything 2015/16 was the year that Italy’s second tier took centre stage.
Team of the year: Crotone
Cagliari may have finished top in the end but in truth there is really only one side who can be bestowed with this honour. The Squali came from absolutely nowhere to finish second and claim a maiden campaign in Serie A for the 2016/17 season.
Indeed, at the start of the campaign most pundits including myself had them tipped to be battling against the drop. Their achievement is akin to Leicester only without all that TV money or any money at all to be frank. A side amalgamated together of old timers looking for one last shot at glory and some promising youngsters have contrived to do the seemingly impossible.
And at the heart of all this success is manager Ivan Juric, the Croat in his first season in charge has proven to be a revelation. Showing terrific tactical acumen to go along with perfect man management to guide his charges towards Serie A.
What next season holds for the Rossoblu is far too early to say, for now though let’s just bask in Crotone’s light.
Honourable mention: Trapani
The Sicilians had a terrific season under Serse Cosmi and were in hard luck to come up short in the Play-off final against Pescara.
Manager of the year: Ivan Juric
Again there can only really be one winner, as mentioned above Juric has taken a side deemed a bunch of no hopers by many and turned them into Serie A material. Looking like he may join Genoa to take over their hot seat this summer with that possibly just being a stepping stone on his journey to the top.
Honourable Mention: Serse Cosmi/Massimo Rastelli
You may be sensing a bit of a theme here with the selection of Serse Cosmi, the man who has done such a wonderful job at Trapani. Big Cosmi has had a long and eventful management career and it looks as if he won’t be slowing down anytime soon if his escapades with the Granata are anything to go by.
As for Massimo Rastelli he delivered what was expected by Cagliari with promotion. It proved dicer at times than expected but Rastelli guided the ship well under intense pressure and scrutiny.
Player of the Season: Gianluca Lapadula
Player of the season is always hard to pick, how do you put value on certain stats, is a keeper having 16 clean sheets as good as a striker who scores 13 goals. Do defenders deserve to be compared alongside attacking midfielders who get the newspaper headlines.
This season though the choice looks rather straight forward, Gianluca Lapadula has proven to be nothing less than a machine for Pescara with hitman scoring at a frightening rate of notes as Pescara returned to Serie A through the play-offs.
Perhaps what has been the most impressive thing about Lapadula is the variety in the goals that he has scored. They have not all just been from a few yards out or long range pile drivers, he has shown that he can score both the most beautiful of efforts and the sweatiest of tap-ins. A move to Napoli looks almost done and if he continues the form that got him their then God help the defenders of Serie A.
Young Player of the Season: Simone Ganz
The hardiest category so far, with many a worthy nominee such as Federico Ricci, Gianluca Caprari and more. Ganz however is the man that I have went for, even though it may be a little outside of the conventional.
The main reason I went for the 22 year is old is down to the simple fact that he performed consistently despite playing in the worst side in the division. While Ricci and Caprari performed admirably they had good teams around them unlike Ganz.
Plus, any player who can score 16 league goals for a side who finished last and only scored 39 goals all season deserves some praise in my books.
Biggest flop of the year: Livorno
Usually reserved for one player who’s just had a mare of a season, this time it goes to an entire club which for some unknown reason seemed hell bent on self-destruction.
What makes things even worse for the Amaranto is the fact that they started the season with five successive wins and remained the last team in the league with a 100% record. From their however they simply imploded, as a succession of managers failed to halt the inevitable slide into Lega Pro.
Will the drop end their, let’s hope so but it is far from clear? A year to forget for the Tuscan outfit.
Honourable mention: Modena
Looked determined to steal the award from Livorno but the magnitude of the Amaranto’s collapse sees them hold on.
Best Signing: Ante Budimir
In truth the answer is again Gianluca Lapadula but I am reluctant to give him another award so instead have gone for Crotone forward Ante Budimir.
The big Bosnian came from nowhere to prove one of the finds of the season, picked up on loan from St Pauli in the German second division the striker made Gods of the Crotone scouting department by scoring a healthy 16 league goals.
Worst Signing: Nicola Pozzi
The former Sampdoria and Empoli striker was brought in to fill the void left by Andrea Cocco who had left Vicenza to join Pescara. In the end however the former Italian under 21 international managed only four league appearances for the Biancorossi failing to score in any of them.
Vicenza stayed up just about in the end although in no thanks to Pozzi
Best Fan Base: Bari
When you play like Bari did this season and still get an average of over 20,000 at your matches you know you have a special fan base.
The San Nicola is a vast arena that can be hard to create a good atmosphere in at times but the Bari faithful more often than not were up to the challenge.
Honourable Mention: Salernitana
Simply the Curva Siberiano in full swing is just a joy to watch.
Best Goal: Gianluca Lapadula v Cesena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH1lhc1iD3w
Honourable mention for those who like thunderbastards: Luca Beligheri v Pro Vercelli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxtYOSQz9rU (Starts at 0.35seconds)
Best Choreography: Salernitana
Curva Siberiano at it again celebrating the long standing fan twinning with Bari
For this mad cap run to the half way line, oh and that perfect pass to boot.
https://twitter.com/KevinNolan11/status/673207985427075073
The remember me I’m still alive reward: Simone Scuffet
Only just turned 20 the young shot stopper has been cast on the scrapheap by those who have switched allegiance to the Gianluigi Donnarumma bandwagon. Still a very talented keeper with plenty to add to many a team.
The Serse Cosmi award for pure Serse Cosmi-ness: Serse Cosmi
Nuff said
Final Award, Most Epic Beard: Antonello Degiorgi
The Pro Vercelli goalkeeping coach wins hands down with this epic facial masterpiece.
https://twitter.com/ProVercelli1892/status/733750335404158977
After another epic season Serie B has come to its close, we can console ourselves in the fact that we will have the Euros to fill the void but I for one am already counting down the days until the madness of the Italian second tier comes back around again.
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