Serie A Controversy: Charting the Fall of Crisis Club Parma
Sitting dead last in Serie A, it seemed the Coppa Italia would provide Parma with a release from the day-to-day pressure of the relegation battle. A win over Cagliari secured their passage to last week’s quarter-final stage, where the draw would hand them a home tie against Juventus.
While there was no repeat of the 7-0 drubbing the Bianconeri handed them back in November, Massimiliano Allegri’s men comfortably eliminated them, despite resting the majority of their stars. That the match was held on Gigi Buffon’s birthday lent an air of nostalgia to the tie, recalling memories of the Parma side that launched the goalkeeper’s career.
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Funded by Carlo Tanzi and Parmalat, the Ducali would spend most of the 1990’s going toe to toe with Juventus, enjoying the most successful period in their history. Their star-studded side would lift the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia twice, adding a Cup Winners’ Cup and a runners-up spot in Serie A.
Playing some wonderful football under first Nevio Scala and then Carlo Ancelotti, some of the world’s finest players made the Stadio Ennio Tardini their home. From Gianfranco Zola and Tino Asprilla to Hernan Crespo, Lilian Thuram and Fabio Cannavaro, Buffon and his team-mates would provide Italian football with one of its most memorable sides.
Their world would collapse due to the financial meltdown of Parmalat, declared bankrupt in 2004, and four years later the club would be relegated. With their 18-year spell in the top flight over, the club would regroup under coach Francesco Guidolin, winning at the first opportunity and finishing eighth in Serie A in 2009-10.
It seemed new owner Tommaso Ghirardi would bring the club back to the top, and last season would be their best since their mid-90s heyday. Roberto Donadoni guided them to sixth place, a finish which saw them seemingly secure their return to European competition for the first time in almost a decade.
It was here that a new raft of problems would be revealed however, the Italian FA denying them a license to participate in the Europa League due to unpaid income tax on players wages. They would appeal the decision, eventually deducted one point and fined €5,000 for their transgressions per FourFourTwo.
Ghirardi would announce his intention to sell the club, eventually seeing a Cypriot-Russian group take control and introduce Ermir Khodra to Serie A. The 29-year-old was appointed president, chief executive and general manager per BBC Sport, and it would appear that Parma would once again rebuild.
In late January, new signings Cristian Rodriguez and Silvestre Varela would arrive from Atletico Madrid and Porto respectively, the club hoping they could spark a revival. But it seemed their problems were far from over, as Antonio Cassano terminated his contract and revealed the extent of their on-going problems.
Telling Sport Mediaset that he had no issue with fans, the striker added that he was missing €4 million in wages before venting his frustration with the management of the club. "Every time they told us we would be paid tomorrow and the next day it was tomorrow again,” Cassano said (h/t Football Italia).
“Enough is enough. I couldn't take it anymore, this agony was dragging on." As the lengthy interview came to an end, the 32-year-old was asked if he was angry with the old owners or the new ones, and his answer would provide a troubling insight into Parma’s problems as he replied:
"All of them, as I don’t even know who the new patrons are. In 20 days we have seen four different Presidents walk past. The new owners arrived 15 days ago, but nothing changed.
I am leaving it all behind because I am tired. Dignity wins for me, before money.
"
While Cassano is no stranger to controversy, he would not be the only one leaving Parma, as the last few days of the transfer window saw an exodus from the club. In the wake of that cup defeat to Juve, Donadoni would tell RAI Sport (h/t Reuters UK) that he had “the the impression there are vultures circling,” and the following days would prove coach correct in his assumption.
Paolo De Ceglie would end his loan deal and return to Juventus, while Afriyie Acquah went to Sampdoria and Lucas Vieira de Souza moved to Moreirense. Dias Felipe followed Cassano’s lead and terminated his contract by mutual consent due to unpaid wages, while Milan swooped to buy former Liverpool defender Gabriel Paletta on deadline day.
As Parma seemed to be simply looking to save money, Andrea Rispoli’s switch to Palermo and Nicola Pozzi’s similar move to Chievo both came with options to buy the players for a reported €1,000 (£800) (h/t Football Italia). While his squad has been decimated, Donadoni insisted he would not abandon the club, going on to tell RAI Sport (h/t Reuters UK):
"It takes more dignity to stay in the saddle than to leave, It is easy to say that I'm leaving because I have not been paid or that I had other offers from teams abroad.
The only thing that makes sense is to do my duty until the end. We must not just think of ourselves.
"
Yet what remains is a sorry sight for a proud club that joyfully celebrated its centenary last year. Following last weekend’s loss to Milan—themselves hardly in the best form—Parma are six points adrift of the rest of Serie A and a staggering 11 points from safety after just 21 matches.
It was their fourth consecutive defeat and their 17th of the season, and it is hard to see where they will find any respite. Cassano (five goals) and De Ceglie (three) were the club’s two leading goalscorers, while Massimo Coda and Raffaele Palladino are the only members of the squad to have netted more than once this term.
Things are little better at the other end, Parma conceding a league-high 46 goals thus far, goalkeeper Antonio Mirante struggling to repel opponents who all too often have time and space in which to shoot. That situation is now worsened further, with three of Donadoni’s regular five-man defence—De Ceglie, Felipe Dias and Paletta—having moved on last month.
Given the lengthy list of departures, it is no surprise to see the new signings were unaware of the club’s plight with Rodriguez admitting to the CalcioMercato website that he was oblivious the situation, telling them (h/t Forza Italian Football):
"I did not know that the players were in arrears for six months because salaries having not been paid. I thought there were only problems with the poor run of results at the club.
However, now we are in this predicament and we have to fight until the end of the season and avoid relegation.
"
Fans vented their frustration following a recent loss to Cesena, calling the players back onto the pitch at the end of the match and confronting the squad members who obliged. It was reported that the club’s Ultra leaders demanded demanding that they “at least go into Serie B with honour” and “run more or stay home,” per Football Italia.
A coaching change has been rumoured in the Italian press over the last few weeks, though given their financial plight it is difficult to see how the club could hope to lure a replacement. However, Sky Italia have touted youth-team coach Hernan Crespo—Parma’s all-time leading scorer—as a potential successor per Football Italia.
The Argentinian would clearly provide a boost for those beleaguered supporters, though it is unlikely he could improve upon Donadoni’s results given the circumstances. Indeed, it is increasingly difficult to see how the struggling Ducali can recover from their current position, their relegation now seemingly inevitable.
It is a sad situation for a once-great club, but the fall of grace suffered by Parma appears far from over.
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