Lecce and Luca Gotti Are Facing Third Season Jinx After 6-0 Fiorentina Drubbing

Can Lecce break the third season jinx?

Since winning promotion to Serie A for the first time in 1985, the Giallorossi have never made it to a fourth consecutive season.

On four occasions the Puglian side have suffered relegation in the dreaded third campaign. On the strength of their performance against Fiorentina at a windy Stadio Via del Mare, the curse won’t be lifted this time around.

Lecce have endured a poor start to the season, winning just once in the opening seven games. Luca Gotti was confirmed as permanent manager in the summer after guiding the club to safety in the final few months of last season.

Yet the manner of the defeat by Fiorentina could spell the end for Gotti’s reign, and it wouldn’t come as a great surprise if he’s handed his marching orders soon.

Lecce started brightly, with Nikola Krstovic breaking down the right, but his cross wasn’t met by a Lecce player. That was as good as it got for the home side.

With just a fraction over 25,000 in attendance, the noise and energy generated from the home fans weren’t matched by Gotti’s players. Lecce spent next to nothing in the summer transfer market and this has been reflected in results thus far.

Leading into the game the Giallorossi had scored only three goals in Serie A and it’s easy to see why. They never looked like scoring against Fiorentina, with Pietro Comuzzo and Luca Ranieri essentially having a day off in central defence. 

“Dreams and ideals never die” read a banner from Lecce’s ultras, in solidarity with three young Foggia ultras who tragically died in a car crash recently. Although Lecce’s dreams of surviving in Serie A appear to be diminishing by the game.

In truth, Fiorentina didn’t even need to be that good. They took their chances well, but it wasn’t as if Rafaelle Palladino’s men were playing exquisite stuff, they didn’t need to. Lecce were just that bad. 

Moise Kean was a nuisance from the get-go, with the former Juventus striker putting himself about. And while he didn’t score, his performance was enough to earn him a 7/10 from La Gazzetta dello Sport, despite the striker only playing for a half.

Danilo Cataldi scored the opener with a neat finish, and once the dam broke, the goals flowed with alarming ease. 

Fiorentina seamlessly carved Lecce open and matters were only made worse when Antonino Gallo was sent off for tripping Dodo on the edge of his own box, with the Brazilian right-back through on goal. 

Cataldi clipped in the resulting free-kick, and by half-time Lecce were 3-0 down and walking off the pitch to a chorus of boos. Some even left the ground to go home.

Gotti, smartly dressed all in black, seemed to be kitted out for his own funeral. 

The second half was more of the same, with Fiorentina scoring almost by accident. Some of the goals, particularly the fifth and sixth, were comical in delivery. 

Yet the more goals Fiorentina scored, the louder the home support got, almost in defiance of what was happening on the pitch. 

Lecce sold out their season ticket allocation this season, with 21,000 snapped up before a ball had been kicked. This was a club record, and the fans deserve more.

As the goals flew in, off came the shirts from the Lecce ultras who continued to sing until the end.

And the end is surely coming for Gotti.

Yet at the same time, it’s not difficult to sympathise with the former Udinese coach. Lecce spent close to zero in the summer transfer market, relying on free signings and loan deals to cover the cracks in an already very thin squad. Defender Marin Pongracic, sold to Fiorentina for €15m — coincidentally — was a massive loss for Lecce, and the Croat was never replaced.

Signing Ante Rebic on a free from Turkish side Besiktas, a player who scored no goals last season, is hardly going to nab the goals required to keep them in the division.

In a post-match press conference that was delayed an hour by Lecce (in which many thought Gotti would get sacked), the manager came out and looked like a man tied to work with what he has, and what he has isn’t much. Certainly not enough to stay in Serie A. The 57-year-old didn’t exactly take aim at the club, yet reading between the lines the feeling was he’s as frustrated with the club’s minimal summer spending as the fans are. 

The result was Lecce’s worst since making it to the top flight nearly 40 years ago, and Gotti was frank in his assessment. “We showed little personality and weakness,” he remarked. Saverio Sticchi Damiani, the club’s owner, at least praised the fans.

One win from eight, a paltry three goals scored and now a mammoth 18 goals conceded, Lecce are a side going only in one direction. For a fanbase that deserves much more, the pressure is on Gotti and Damiani to arrest the slide into Serie B. Damiani needs to invest in the January market, the real debate remains whether Gotti will still be around by the turn of the year. 

The cursed third season looks on form, and considering the show of support from Lecce’s fans in the face of a 6-0 drubbing by La Viola, Serie A would be slightly worse off without the Salenti.