Apprenticeship and humility: Bari, here is Caserta

From the dusty fields of Calabria to the great stage of Serie A. From the tough apprenticeship in C to the possibility (now around the corner) of landing at San Nicola. Fabio Caserta is the most classic example of someone who is used to fighting to conquer everything on his own. It happened to him as a footballer and now he is ready for the most difficult challenge also as a coach. With work, humility, but also determination and personality.

Here is the profile of the man who, barring any sensational unforeseen events, will take over the Bari helm this week. The agreement was finalized last weekend: fresh from his divorce from Catanzaro, the Calabrian coach has accepted the red and white project and in the next few hours will sign a two-year contract with a probable option to extend for a further year in the event of promotion to Serie A and a salary that will be close to 200 thousand euros. First, however, the Apulian club will have to deal with the issue of Moreno Longo: the Piedmontese coach, despite no longer being part of the project of the technical area led by sports directors Giuseppe Magalini and Valerio Di Cesare, is still under contract for another season, with a salary of around 300 thousand euros, among the highest in the category. A shared solution on the resolution of the constraint could be plausible only if some other club were immediately interested in the Turin coach, but for the moment there are only simple surveys. It is therefore easy to proceed with the dismissal: an initial meeting between the parties' lawyers should be scheduled today to verify which strategy to undertake. Only after Longo's separation will the Caserta era officially begin.

A tough apprenticeship Born in Melito di Porto Salvo (like Nunzio Zavettieri, the coach of the «wonderful failed season 2013-14») on September 24, 1978, a former versatile midfielder with good insertion skills and appreciable technique, Caserta started out among the amateurs of Locri, then, after a stint at Cremapergo, he stood out in Igea Virtus, in C2. The first turning point in his career came with the call from Catania: two seasons in B and promotion to A where he remained for six consecutive championships also wearing the shirts of Palermo, Lecce, Cesena and Atalanta. Then, he returned to B at Juve Stabia, where he remained for another five seasons between the cadetteria and Lega Pro. After his competitive career, in 2016 he began his career as assistant coach to Gaetano Fontana, but soon found himself catapulted into the first team. He achieved promotion to Serie B in 2019, but did not save the Campania team from an immediate return to Serie C. Then, he won another Serie C championship in Perugia. An exploit that earned him a call from the ambitious Benevento: with the "witches" he first achieved a seventh place in Serie B (eliminated in the semifinal of the playoffs), then he was dismissed in the following tournament. Things did not go much better in Cosenza, where he was relieved of his duties despite being outside the playout zone. Finally, he fully redeemed himself in Catanzaro: sixth place and another elimination in the semifinal of the playoffs. Last week he separated from the Giallorossi due to a lack of agreement on the continuation of the relationship (despite another year of constraint), then came the call from Bari.

Elasticity and empathy Caserta is the opposite of a fundamentalist. In his career on the bench he has adopted many modules: from 4-3-1-2 to 4-2-3-1, up to 4-3-3, then moving on to a three-man defense and experimenting with 3-4-2-1 and 3-5-2 that characterized the last tournament in Catanzaro. It is possible that from this setup he will build his Bari. Defensive compactness, fast counterattacks, spirit of sacrifice: these are the watchwords of a football aimed at the offensive, but with the obligation to preserve balance. His teams have the characteristic of remaining attached to the result, maintaining lucidity even in the most complicated moments. It is no coincidence that his Catanzaro is the team that has drawn the most in the last B (even twenty X signs, more than Bari who has collected 18). In his career, out of 267 professional benches he has 113 victories, 84 draws and 70 defeats. Furthermore, his young age makes him prefer dialogue with the players: empathy and a sense of team spirit are essential in the organization of work. Bari will not be just any stop in a curious tangle that has linked Puglia and Calabria for two years. Ciro Polito (former ds of the Galletti) was the "mentor" who (after their common militancy in Catania) launched him as a coach at Juve Stabia and put him back on track in Catanzaro. The place from which Giuseppe Magalini arrived in Puglia last year. Destinies that cross. But in Caserta it will matter little: from the dust he has always arrived in Paradise. And Bari could be the ideal stop to continue his climb.