Bari, "hot" bench: Magalini towards confirmation

BARI - One step at a time. Trying not to upset the logical order of things. The first item on the agenda at Bari involves the figure of Giuseppe Magalini, who will celebrate his first year in red and white in June. The sporting director of Venetian origins has another year left on his contract but the impression is that there will be an evaluation of his work. As is right after such a disappointing season. The impression is that the marriage will not be interrupted. But this is undoubtedly the priority. The reference figure of the technical area is the man to whom the company entrusts the 360° organization.

The fate of Moreno Longo, moving on to point number two, is undoubtedly linked to the name of the sports director. There is no point in beating around the bush, the last months of the season have strained the relationship between management and coach. Even from the outside there was a sense of "distance". Of ideas and, above all, of communication. Magalini and Di Cesare were and remain convinced that they had built a team capable of reaching the playoffs. Longo has chosen, since the dawn of the season, a low profile. Perhaps too much even compared to the legitimate choice of proceeding step by step in the aftermath of a terrible championship and a market that has brought with it yet another revolution. If you don't agree on the value of the group... it's normal that doubts arise on the real possibility of continuing together.

One thing must be clear. Longo's confirmation is right, we are talking about a coach who is certainly not a newcomer. But it must be the result of a shared choice (club and transfer staff) and, above all, a convinced one. Otherwise there is the risk of running into sensational strategic errors. Do you remember the Mignani affair after the joke in the playoff final against Cagliari? Making mistakes is normal, as long as you have the humility to learn from them. In that circumstance, they didn't have the courage to tell the Genoese coach (this year seventh at the helm of the new Cesena, another good result for him) that there was no confidence to continue the journey together. The mother of all the mistakes of a nightmare season. With Polito, then, the protagonist of a crescendo of "forced" actions born from a start on the wrong foot, the uncertain confirmation of Mignani precisely. When you convince yourself that the team is strong and that it doesn't work because of the coach... it's normal that you then remain dangerously on the path of overvaluing the group. Even in spite of the results. But this is now old news. The real problem concerns the present. Which for a thousand reasons must be faced with clear ideas and firm attitudes.

Longo, like Magalini, is still contractually bound to Bari. And his is certainly not a "light" contract. Knowing the attention of the owners to economic-financial issues, it is not difficult to imagine that the "weight" of Longo's salary in the team's budget will be the subject of further investigation. Even in the knowledge that there will be other evaluations to be made. Knowing that Bari is expected to have a very complicated season, also on an environmental level after the growing detachment of the fans. There are many ways to make the club's accounts balance. But it is forbidden to fail in the choices. In short, no missteps. It is necessary for Bari to start again with a coach who is the full expression of the president and the sports director. And this also applies in the event of Magalini's farewell. Possanzini and Donati are liked. But the games are still wide open.

Aurelien Scheidler's adventure with Bari ended early. The red and white club announced yesterday afternoon that FCV Dender Eh, a team playing in the Jupiler Pro League (Belgian first division), has exercised its right of redemption. Scheidler arrived in Bari during Polito's management. He was paid two million euros, an enormous amount for a club that has always neglected the path of capitalization. A "strange" investment, let's say against the trend. But that's how it is. From today the striker officially becomes a former red and white.