Bari is no longer a happy island: the post-Longo era is a torment

BARI - The impression is that Bari no longer has the energy to even raise its voice. Even the silences of the club fall into a void called indifference. Almost a month after the last official match there is no news on the subject of coach. It is known, with reasonable certainty, that the relationship with Longo will be interrupted despite a contract expiring in a year, at quite significant figures. And it is also known that so far there has been no contact with the Piedmontese coach who has not been informed of the desire for divorce. Some do not feel like ruling out a U-turn that would be sensational, yes. It would take place in the event of a clear difficulty in identifying the right figure to whom to entrust a path to restart. Difficult, very difficult in any case. It would mean starting the season on the wrong foot, in every sense. An own goal, or something like that.

There was a season when when a Bari manager picked up the phone... on the other end it was almost impossible to say "no". Today it's different. Today coaches take their time. Ditto, the players. They wait for better calls, as if Bari were reduced to the rank of a luxury provincial. It seems absurd but, if you look closely, there is a thread of logic. Important square, yes. Serie A crowd, true. And then? By now it's a well-known fact, here we don't play to win. Better, we show up at the start... hoping a small sporting miracle will happen, like the one that two years ago was about to send an entire city to Heaven. After all, no one hides in the summer. Maximum clarity: "Playoff objective". What, then, does this damned playoff objective mean? Arriving eighth means that you've saved yourself and that, compared to the others, you can throw a bit of smoke in the fans' eyes.

Sometimes, it's even worse for the fans. It happens when you hear Longo, the last of the series, that "we must think above all about salvation". Which, then, goes hand in hand with the statement by Luigi De Laurentiis ("Serie B is a source of pride") that still sends shivers down the spine just thinking about it. In a context like this, do you want there to be a queue to wear the red and white jersey? No, things are different. And the future doesn't promise anything different. With a fan base that has, practically, raised the white flag. A white flag in the face of a lack of investment and, therefore, ambition. A white flag in the face of an ownership, Filmauro, that travels at two speeds. Grandeur , in Naples. While here in Bari we just get by, a boat without a destination that sails in a sea that is now stormy. Here there is no room for ambition. At least until we choose not to play to win.

Massimo Cellino has decided not to respect the federal deadlines, not to pay three million euros in salaries and contributions, and to push Brescia Calcio towards bankruptcy. Only on Tuesday the Sardinian entrepreneur had instructed his lawyers to file an appeal against the ruling of the federal court that on May 29 had condemned the club to eight penalty points, four of which to be served this season, causing the rondinelle to be relegated to Serie C. Furthermore, yesterday Cellino had paid the salaries of 13 employees, also reaching an agreement with the Revenue Agency to pay off the debt accumulated after the case of the tax credits purchased to pay the February and April deadlines and non-existent results. And instead Cellino has chosen to abandon the club to its fate. Which now appears sealed. With the accounting books that could already be taken to court next week.