Serie B - General Discussion

Torino and Pescara up; Sassuolo, Verona, Varese and Sampdoria in the playoffs. As the first two are sure to finish in third and fourth they will have the advantage of the second leg of the semis at home.
Six still in danger of relegation along with Albinoleffe and Gubbio. Positions are:
Bari 47
Ascoli 46
Livorno 45
Empoli 44
Vicenza 41
Nocerina 40

It was a dramatic end to the season last night. A 91st minute Mancini goal took Pescara to a 1-0 win over Nocerina and gave them the championship. Rivals Torino could only manage a 0-0 draw against bottom club AlbinoLeffe. The two clubs finished equal on 83 points, but Pescara had the better head-to-head results. They also had a better goal difference.
Sassuolo pipped Verona to third place, so the playoff semi-finals will be Sampdoria v. Sassuolo and Varese v. Verona. First legs are on Wednesday.
At the other end of the table Nocerina are relegated along with Gubbio and AlbinoLeffe. The fourth team to go down depends on a playout between former Serie A clubs Empoli and Vicenza.
Interesting point. All the clubs still in danger of being involved in the playout won yesterday - Empoli, Vicenza, Ascoli, Livorno and Bari. Wonder when the investigation will start!

Pro Vercelli and Virtus Lanciano will join Spezia and Ternana in Serie B next season. I haven't been able to find out how long it is since the seven times Scudetto winners Pro Vercelli were last in Serie B, but it could well be back before the Second World War. For Lanciano this is their first time ever in the Lega Cadetta.

Jocksboy wrote:

Pro Vercelli and Virtus Lanciano will join Spezia and Ternana in Serie B next season. I haven't been able to find out how long it is since the seven times Scudetto winners Pro Vercelli were last in Serie B, but it could well be back before the Second World War. For Lanciano this is their first time ever in the Lega Cadetta.

No disrespect to those teams but I am glad I will not have to see them play samp....those games against Grossotto and Nicerina I went to last season was not the greatest games I have seen lately!

Looking forward to a bit of quality next season!

Very interesting read though Jocksboy...I do enjoy reading your posts, you seem to know your way around the lower Italian leagues very well indeed

I can't claim any great credit for it! It's mostly done through RAI teletext and the net and watching lower league games on Rai Sport and Italian local channels. I've always been a 'lower league' supporter in Scottish football, so it seemed natural to take an interest in the Italian lower leagues as well.

Anyone have any idea when the B fixtures are out?

The verdicts on the betting scandal came out yesterday. Apart from suspensions for Antonio Conte and a number of experienced players it was announced that Lecce and Grosseto have been relegated to the Lega Pro.
There has been no indication yet as to whether losing playoff finalists Carpi and Trapani will be promoted in their place or whether Serie B will reduce to 20 clubs. Will post here when I hear something definite.

According to RAI teletext last night Grosseto have won their appeal against relegation and remain in Serie B. Lecce lost their appeal and go to Lega Pro 1. Still no indication of whether they will be replaed by Trapani or Carpi. Geographically Trapani would be the preferred choice as they are another southern team (from Sicily).
As the first Serie B fixtiures are duethe dayafter tomorrow they'll need to get something soted out quickly.

It's settled. Vicenza's relegation has been rescinded and they return to Serie B in place of Lecce.

Having given up on the rights to Serie A it looks as though BET365 have bought the rights to Serie B for this season. All 9 games on Saturday evening were on BET365 (via calcion.eu in my case).

I think BET 365 still have Serie A. I watched Milan v Samp yesterday through BET365.

A good start for Livorno with a 3-1 win at Juve Stabia.I see Federico Dionisi was on the scoresheet.It's important he's fit for the season,he's a very good playmaker and goalscorer.

A tight 3-2 victory last night over Padova leaves Livorno 2nd behind Sassuolo.

Serie B is so open this season, there is possibly 8 or 9 teams with a realistic chance of promotion.

What do you think of Serie B Vincent.....I have not watched a lot since Eurosport stopped showing it 6 or 7 years ago now....watched a couple of Samp games last year and some live streams and the quality was quite different. Not as bad as the Blades in Leauge One mind but still far off the quality of Serie A.

The difference really is as where we simply lump it in the lower divisions in England there is much more controlled passing in Serie B but not to the same quality as Serie A and much more losing posession and mistakes.

I still see a lot of Serie B via the calcion and sportlemon websites and I enjoy it. Yes, there is still a wide gulf between it and Serie A, but I think matches are more entertaining over last season and the beginning of this one than they were three years ago. There's much more attacking football, more goals being scored and more excitement. There are also some very promising young players coming to the foral
I can't compare it with the lower divisions in England because I haven't seen any of them for the last thirty years, but I can say one thing - I'd rather watch Serie B any day than watch the SPL!

So - so start for Hellas this season. Would have expected a better result against Spezia last time out - especially as Spezia only had 9 men for the last 20-odd minutes. Nevermind. We've got a decent squad and a good coach and hopefully we can go one better than last year.

Hi Gialloblu. Good to see you back on the site. We've missed you the last couple of seasons.

Jocksboy wrote:

I still see a lot of Serie B via the calcion and sportlemon websites and I enjoy it. Yes, there is still a wide gulf between it and Serie A, but I think matches are more entertaining over last season and the beginning of this one than they were three years ago. There's much more attacking football, more goals being scored and more excitement. There are also some very promising young players coming to the foral
I can't compare it with the lower divisions in England because I haven't seen any of them for the last thirty years, but I can say one thing - I'd rather watch Serie B any day than watch the SPL!

What players are we to look out for this season in Serie B do you think Jocksboy?

Nicorina had a excellent short stocky player in midfield last season, can't for the life of my remember his name though? do you know who I mean?

Having only seen one game I haven't had much chance to assess anyone yet. Can't place the player you mention with Nocerina I'm afraid. My memory is suffering from a severe dose of old age!
Fiorentina's Babacar is on loan to Padova so I'll be looking to see how he does. Padova have also added a favourite of mine, striker Pablo Granoche. He came to the fore with Triestina when they were in Serie B and had a spell in Serie A with both Chievo and Novara without getting much playing time. Boakye of Sassuolo is another player I like to watch. I'm not sure if he is still on loan from Genoa or whether he's joined the Neroverde permanently.
Serie B will miss the exciting Pescara this season. It's a shame their trio of strikers have gone their separate ways, Immobile to Genoa, Insigne to Napoli (and a call up for the Azzuri) and Sansovino to another Serie B club (can't remember which). The three of them played so well as a unit.

Nice surprise at the weekend. In the absence of Serie A JSB (Al Jazeera) Sports showed four Serie B games live with English commentaries - the two on Saturday evening and the two on Sunday evening These games weren't listed in the programme schedules on the Al Jazeera Sports website. I only found out when watching the Modena match on the computer and suddenly noticing that the Al Jazera logo was in the corner. Let's hope this will be a regular feature when there's no Serie A.
Two hat trcks in Serie B at the weekend, highly unusual. Pavoletti for Sassuolo away to Empoli and Mehmeti for Novara away to Cesena.
After three succesive defeats and ten goals conceded Cesena chairman Campedelli has fired the manager - who just happened to be his younger brother!. No family loyalty here then!

Jocksboy wrote:

After three succesive defeats and ten goals conceded Cesena chairman Campedelli has fired the manager - who just happened to be his younger brother!. No family loyalty here then!

Family get-togethers will be a little awkward for a while!

forza sampdoria wrote:

Serie B is so open this season, there is possibly 8 or 9 teams with a realistic chance of promotion.

What do you think of Serie B Vincent.....

Very open as jocksboy has said,I only hope Livorno put up a better display than last season.I don't get the opportunity to see many games other than actually going which is far too infrequent.Look out for Livorno's partnership upfront of Federico Dionisi and Paulo Betanin,if fit the future's bright,the future's Amaranto.

Bisoli is the new Cesena manager. He should know the score - he's been there before!

A good win on saturday night for us against Reggina. First goal was a bit of comedy though, and the penalty was well, er, 'generous' methinks!

Decent enough start, 1 win and 2 draws. Now for the derby against the cat eaters this weekend!

And another win for Livorno,4 from 4