Lite Giulini-Caressa on Sky: what’s behind the clash on TV between the president of Cagliari and the journalist

A very hard verbal confrontation, as few have seen in the history of Italian football on TV, which nevertheless offered many. It was the one aired on Sky on Sunday 22 May between the president of the Sardinian club, Tommaso Giulini, and the journalist Fabio Caressa shortly after Cagliari’s relegation to Serie B after the sensational 0-0 in Venice.

Giulini’s lunge

It all begins when Giulini, after a mea culpa on the reasons for an unthinkable relegation at the beginning of the season, does not hold back and expresses his disappointment at the news circulated about his club this week: “This week – he says – there is someone who hasn’t he loved us, because there was talk of dismantling and these things are not good for the team. I won’t answer you, Caressa, because you are the first one who made us an infamous woman. Last week you said we were going to sell the company, without verifying or asking anyone for anything. ”

Caressa’s reply

A very hard lunge, and Caressa replies in kind: «I simply reported a news that had reached me and that had been checked by our journalists. She is not infamous. If you believe, Giulini, that reporting news for a journalist is an infamous one, then I will explain many things and perhaps you have a vision of football and of the world that is not so current ». And she adds: “I speak clearly too, and then I could ask you if changing three coaches was not one of the causes of the relegation.”

Giulini leaves the studio

Giulini replies by reiterating his thesis on the alleged destabilizing effect of «news on society, on Capozucca (the ds, ed) and on Agostini (the technician, ed) “, adding that” they do not come from Sky “. From the studio you hear a “Yes sure…” clearly ironic about Caressa and for the president of Cagliari this is too much: «No, Caressa, you ‘yes of course’ don’t tell me!». At that point Giulini takes off his headset and leaves the interview while the journalist in the studio ironically reiterates “Now it’s our fault if you are demoted …” and then observes that despite the gravity of the accusation he will choose to “override” and close there the case.

Who is Giulini

Milanese, 44 years old, entrepreneur owner of the Fluorsid group which operates in the chemical and mining sector, Tommaso Giulini has been president of Cagliari since June 2014 after having been part of the Inter Board of Directors from 2005 to 2013, in which he still holds a very small percentage of shares. His has always been a controversial presidency, above all due to the propensity to change coaches frequently and, therefore, to a lack of technical continuity. This was also discussed on Sky in the previous weeks by analyzing the unexpected collapse of the Sardinians, and again on Sunday Beppe Bergomi, present in the studio with Caressa and the other guests, observed: “The descent of Cagliari, for me, began when Giulini decided to exempt Walter Zenga because driven by the desire to raise the bar and aim for Europe, evidently not considering Walter suitable to hire Di Francesco. The company has not been able to maintain its ambitions ». In short, a shared criticism, which however Giulini did not like.

Six coaches in three years (and 11 in the Giulini era)

The numbers, however, speak for themselves: with Walter Mazzarri’s exoneration from the Cagliari bench, which took place on May 4, three days before the end of the championship, the number of coaches in the last three championships alone reached six. And Alessandro Agostini, Primavera coach, he was the third in the season after Leonardo Semplici and Mazzarri himself. But the Giulini era has always been characterized by a great coming and going of coaches. Giulini had become president in the relegation year of 2014-2015: in that season they had alternated Zeman, Zola and Gianluca Festa. In Serie B Giulini had chosen Massimo Rastelli: mission accomplished and promotion. But the following year, after just 8 days and four consecutive defeats, Rastelli was sacked: instead of him he was chosen Diego Lopez, who returns to Cagliari after his previous experiences as a player and manager. he hits the goal of salvation, but will still be sacked at the end of the season in favor of Rolando Maran: he will be the last to finish an entire season on the rossoblù bench. They arrive Zenga, Di Francesco (with whom we also spoke of a Europa League goal)Semplici and Mazzarri, but the Cagliari bench has become increasingly hot year after year. And now the future, both technical and corporate, seems increasingly nebulous.