Brescia Are Finding Out There’s Never a Dull Day With Massimo Cellino – Calcio England
Published on: December 20, 2024
Destination Calcio feature by Calcio England
In the 17th minute of Sunday’s game, Brescia’s ultras began to file into the deserted Curva Nord of the Stadio Mario Rigamonti. Their belated arrival – symbolically scheduled for the 17th matchday – was the latest protest against maligned club owner Massimo Cellino.
Cellino is a deeply superstitious man; like many in Italy, he regards the number 17 as a harbinger of bad luck. Upon Cellino’s insistence, Brescia have no number 17 in their squad. At his previous club, Cagliari, he went as far as renumbering stadium seats that bore the number 17 to 16b, in an attempt to ward off misfortune.
As the current Serie B season converges on its midway point, tensions are running high in Brescia as the team hovers just a few points above the relegation play-out spots. Cellino is feeling the heat of Brescia’s disgruntled tifosi – but it’s nothing new to the veteran club President.
Cellino arrived in Brescia in 2017 after a tumultuous three-year tenure as owner of Leeds United. His time in South Yorkshire was marked by a succession of managerial appointments, a baffling conveyor belt of foreign signings, legal disputes, tax evasion charges and an 18-month ban from English football for breaching player-agent regulations.
Despite all of that drama, he left the club in no better state than when he arrived.
Before Leeds, Cellino spent two decades at the helm of Cagliari, where his patterns of erratic behaviour became established.
Famously dubbed Il Mangia-Allenatori (“The Coach-Eater”), he cycled through 36 managers in 22 years. His reign was defined by his impulsive decision-making and an eccentric list of superstitions, which included watching matches from the tunnel (a “lucky” spot), an aversion to the colour purple (another bad omen) and a fondness for mortadella sandwiches (Cagliari once scored as he was eating one).
Brescia: The Rise and Fall
Cellino enjoyed a blissful honeymoon period at Brescia. The club, propelled by the emerging talent of Sandro Tonali, secured promotion to Serie A at the end of the 2018-19 season. Cellino invested in the club, upgrading the training facilities and building temporary stands around the athletics track to bring the tifosi closer to the action.
Initially, things seemed to be moving in the right direction.
In Serie A, Sandro Tonali was complemented by the mercurial Mario Balotelli, whose sentimental return to his hometown was heralded by Brescia supporters. However, the club were relegated after just one season. While Tonali’s subsequent move to AC Milan netted Cellino around €20m (£16.5m), the club’s Serie A adventure ended in disappointment.
Back in Serie B, Le Rondinelle (The Swallows) made the play-offs in consecutive seasons before a disastrous 2022-23 campaign. Midway through the season, Brescia were competing for promotion before a dramatic collapse saw them plummet to the bottom of the table. That remarkable capitulation stoked the fires of discontent amongst Brescia supporters.
A home defeat to Genoa on matchday 30 compelled Brescia ultras to storm the main tribuna to vent their anger at Cellino. The President was forced to take refuge in the changing rooms as the angry mob was held at bay.
Brescia eventually rallied to a 16th place finish but contrived to lose to Cosenza in the relegation play-out, their fate sealed by a humiliating 3-0 second-leg defeat on home soil. Jubilant Cosenza followers were locked in the stadium for several hours as all hell broke loose outside.
When Reggina were declared bankrupt later that summer, Brescia were fortuitously handed a Serie B lifeline for the 2023-24 season. The club’s creditable run to the play-offs last season restored some stability, but the situation has now reached boiling point once again in Lombardy.
The Latest Crisis
Cellino began the current season with optimism, acclaiming Brescia’s squad and speaking of aspirations for promotion to Serie A. Early results were promising, but form has since faltered, leaving Brescia in the no-man’s land between play-offs and play-outs. Their fortunes over the next few crucial weeks will now determine their fate.
Ahead of the match with Bari in November, ultras broke into the stadium and spray-painted graffiti on the walls, expressing their fury with both Cellino and the players. In response, Cellino called for unity, demanding that the team and fans come together to push forward.
However, his suggestion that fans were partly to blame for the club’s struggles did not land well with the tifosi. They have grown tired of Cellino’s broken promises and a perceived lack of ambition. A communique issued by the Curva Nord last week bluntly stated: “Cellino, you’ve pissed outside the pot once again with this statement,” and concluded by calling for him to sell the club.
Under pressure after just one win in nine games, Cellino reverted to type by disposing of experienced coach Rolando Maran. His replacement, Pierpaolo Bisoli became Cellino’s 21st change of coach in just seven-and-a-half years in control of Brescia.
Cellino then raised the stakes when he took a combative stance at a club event. “I am doing as much as I can and even more. When there are demands and no love, you get what you deserve… What the f**k do you want?” he angrily remarked, railing against what he saw as unrealistic expectations from Brescia supporters.
“This club is 110 years old, spending 10 years in Serie A and 100 between Serie B and C. It’s not all my fault. We need to change this mentality. If we have enemies at home, where do we want to go?”
Where Next?
It is unclear how Brescia and Cellino will navigate beyond this impasse.
The club’s annual wage bill is in the middle of the pack for Serie B, suggesting they are performing just about as expected. The fans want Cellino to put his hand in his pocket to elevate those prospects, but Cellino is unwilling to do so, particularly without the backing of the club’s fanbase.
Cellino, known for his unapologetic defiance, is unlikely to back down. Although he is reportedly open to selling the club for €25m, there has been little concrete interest.
If Brescia’s Curva Nord hoped that Sunday’s protest would prompt an immediate response, they were left disappointed. Pierpaolo Bisoli’s first match in charge was played out in a thick blanket of fog – and witnessed a Brescia performance as grey and lifeless as the wintery conditions.
Sunday’s goalless draw with Carrarese leaves Brescia stranded in mid-table, and a bleak Christmas beckons for supporters of Le Rondinelle.
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