It’s funny how these things pan out, isn’t it? My first Fuller FM blog story ended with Napoli and Fiorentina battling it out for the Serie A scudetto – and now history is repeating itself. Only this time, I’m managing the Partenopei, rather than the Viola.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the FINAL chapter of “Canzone Napoletana”. My retro Championship Manager 3 adventure with Napoli is almost over, and I’m determined to bow out in a blaze of glory. Can my team better the real-life class of 2023 – and successfully defend our league title?
We’re also into the latter stages of the Champions League. Sadly, the arrival of a certain red-nosed Scotsman in Turin last time out means that our dreams of winning the Coppa Italia – and a potential treble – are dead and buried.
So, as the fat Italian tenor warms up his vocal chords, it’s time to kick off the finale…
MARCH 2003
The Partenopei had been top of Serie A since mid-October, but now the atmosphere in Naples was getting rather tense. Fiorentina had cut our lead down to just two points, and we were now reeling from a painful Coppa Italia defeat at the hands of Alex Ferguson and Juventus. But wait… what’s this message in my inbox?
Huh. I forgot to mention that last time, didn’t I?
Yes, at last, Gabriel Bordi has renewed his contract! We’ve had to stretch our wage budget to the limit and give him a ludicrous relegation release clause, but the Argentine goal machine is now staying at Napoli until 2010! (Or at least until the next manager cancels his contract and signs Isaiah Rankin from Bradford instead.)
Whoever takes over from me in the summer will have a cornucopia of riches up front next season: Bordi, Filippo Inzaghi, Kabba Samura… and Nicola Ventola, let’s not forget!
Would he also inherit a team of European champions? Our quest for Ol ‘Big Ears resumed in the Quarter Finals against a mighty Celtic team featuring the likes of Joe Cole, Damien Duff and John Terry. (Hold on, are we sure this isn’t Chelsea circa 2004?)
Since the draw was made in December, Celtic’s all-conquering manager John Barnes had taken his rap skills to Old Trafford. That meant I was instead shaking the hand of former Brøndby boss Åge Hareide when our teams first did battle in Glasgow.
Frankly, we were lucky to escape Celtic Park with a 0-0 draw. Frey needed to produce a goalkeeping clinic to frustrate the hosts, who dominated possession even after a late red card.
We had missed Stilian Petrov‘s creativity in the first leg, but the former Bhoy came back just in time to give us an early lead at the San Paolo. Though we couldn’t add to that lead, we survived a late Celtic onslaught.
It wasn’t pretty, but Napoli were into the Champions League Semi Finals, where we would face Valencia. The winner of that tie would take on either Barcelona or Roma for club football’s biggest prize.
I love binary, don’t you?
Back in Serie A, our title defence continued at the San Siro against Internazionale, who were down in 7th place. After surviving a barrage of Inter attacks (during which Ruud Van Nistelrooy had a goal disallowed), we silenced the hosts with a late counter-attacking goal from Sérgio Conceição. In even better news, Fiorentina got spanked 4-0 by Roma, so we were five points clear again…
…until Roma came to the San Paolo and took two points off us. Vincenzo Montella’s 6th-minute opener for the visitors was cancelled out 6 minutes later by midfielder Pierre Laigle, but another Diego Placente red card ended any hopes we had of winning.
Even worse was to come when we suffered another 1-0 defeat at Juventus. In just two matches, Fiorentina had erased our five-point lead, and we were now only ahead on goal difference. Roma had also pulled themselves back into title contention.
That meant we were under HUGE pressure to beat Lecce at home. Bordi obliged with his 16th goal of the season… but again, one goal was all we could muster.
Yes, we were still top (barely), but the wind had gone out of our sails at just the wrong time. Fiorentina were smelling blood – and unless we got our act together quickly, they would surely be the favourites for our title showdown at the San Paolo on 13 April.
APRIL 2003
I’ll get back to our title challenge later, but first, let’s focus on the Champions League. Standing between us and a place in the Final were Valencia, who had not conceded a single goal in the competition so far. We had to pay special attention to their Argentine attacking midfielder Patricio Camps, whose scoring record would give Bordi a run for his money.
After 28 minutes… disaster. Fabio Cannavaro strained his knee ligaments, which meant I had to give a debut to 19-year-old defender Daniele Garzja. We held on until half-time, but then Camps tore us to shreds in the second period.
Our 46-game unbeaten home run was in tatters – and so was our Champions League dream. Barring an incredible comeback in Spain, we would lose a FOURTH Semi Final in three years.
There was no miracle at the Mestalla. Injuries and suspensions led to a now-decrepit Giovanni Lopez starting at centre-back – and unsurprisingly, the bottom fell out. A miserable end to G-Lo’s Napoli career, and to a proud European run.
So once again, it all came down to the league. Cup glory with Napoli had eluded me, but could I at least sign off with a second scudetto?
Before that crunch game at the San Paolo, we went to relegation-threatened Brescia desperately needing a win. I was not particularly confident after a goalless first half, or after Conceição added his name to an injury list that also included Samura and Boudewijn Zenden.
The turning point came when Inzaghi was brought down by Brescia’s goalkeeper, who was shown a straight red card. Bordi converted the penalty, then scored again to grab another crucial victory… especially considering what had just happened in Empoli.
I knew Bobby Murgita would help his old mates out. Napoli were now two points clear again – but Fiorentina would still have the chance to leapfrog us IF they could beat us on our patch.
This is a nightmare. This is a bloody nightmare.
We probably deserved to go into the half-time break still level, but then Ronaldo burst through our offside trap. Bordi then got us level after the break, despite concussing himself in training a few days prior. In the circumstances, I would have gladly taken a draw from here to retain our two-point lead…
…and then with three minutes to go, Daniel Daino scythed down Ronaldo just outside our penalty area. ‘O Fenomeno’ then delivered a stunning free-kick to give Fiorentina the win. For the first time in six months, we had surrendered the Serie A lead – and our fate was out of our hands.
It looked like the collapse would continue at rock-bottom Empoli, who stunned us after just six minutes. But it was Bordi to the rescue again with a goal and an assist for Jonatan Binotto, who then scored a 90th-minute winner in an even tenser affair at Cagliari. We do love a bit of late drama, don’t we?
And what of Fiorentina? The Viola had already beaten Cagliari 3-1 the week prior…
…but in their next match at Sampdoria, they could only manage a 2-2 draw! With four games remaining, Napoli were back on top by a single point!
Nobody could predict how this scudetto race was going to finish. Both us and Fiorentina still had to play Milan and Lazio in our remaining fixtures – but 3rd-placed Roma were four points adrift with an easier run-in on paper, so you couldn’t rule them out either.
MAY 2003
Now it was our turn to face Sampdoria, who arrived at the San Paolo looking to spring another surprise. Il Doria had only won four league games so far and were scrapping for their Serie A survival, but they’d already given us a few scares this season. This would not be an easy game by any means.
Binotto had other ideas. Jonny found top bins from Stan Petrov’s flick-on to give us an early lead – and he doubled it midway through the second half with an assist for Inzaghi.
A 2-0 victory… but Fiorentina had beaten AC Milan by the same scoreline, so the situation was unchanged. We remained one point clear as we headed to the San Siro to meet the Rossoneri. You’ve sensed a pattern in the fixtures, haven’t you?
Prior to the Sampdoria game, Inzaghi had not scored in three months. Just before half-time at the San Siro, he made it two goals in as many games, finishing a brilliant Petrov through-ball. His partner-in-crime Bordi then wrapped up the points late on.
We might have stumbled in April, but just like last season, we had clicked into gear again just when it really mattered. And as for Fiorentina…
JIMINY JILICKERS! We’re four points clear! Thanks, Svennis!
Roma had also dropped points and needed a miracle to win their third scudetto in four seasons. But we now just needed one more win to keep our hands on that shield for another year.
On the penultimate weekend of last season, we were crowned champions by defeating Roman opposition at home. Would there be a little bit of history repeating when we faced 6th-placed Lazio – or would this title battle go all the way to the final day?
Perfect start! Lazio lose their goalkeeper, and Bordi buries his 22nd goal of the season!
By George, I think we’ve got this in the bag! Lazio have barely even come close to equalising!
We’ve done it again! Indeed, it wouldn’t have mattered if we had screwed up, because Fiorentina screwed up even more – and lost 4-1 at home to Torino! The scudetto was staying in Naples!
And what better way to celebrate than at Torino – and a reunion with club icon Claudio Bellucci. I’m sure he’ll give his old friends a guard of honour and a warm welcome.
And so my Napoli tenure ended with a massive punch-up…
…my 125th win in 227 matches, a 94th goal for Gabriel Bordi…
…and my highest points tally in Serie A. 76 of the best.
Fiorentina and Roma had to settle for 2nd and 3rd, though they did win the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Coppa Italia respectively. Lecce, Sampdoria, Vicenza and Empoli all dropped into Serie B, while Venezia, Genoa, Ancona and Padova were promoted.
And just for the record, Barcelona won the Champions League, defeating Valencia on penalties. Though I hadn’t brought Ol’ Big Ears to Naples, I had cemented my legacy at the San Paolo.
PLAYER STATISTICS
| NAME | APPS | CON | ASTS | YC [RC] | MOM | AVE |
| Sebastien Frey | 45 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6.89 |
| Andrea Mazzantini | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.00 |
| Giuseppe Taglialatela | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 |
| NAME | APPS | GOALS | ASTS | YC [RC] | MOM | AVE |
| Jonatan Binotto | 21 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.67 |
| Gabriel Bordi | 38 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 7.63 |
| Fabio Cannavaro | 36 | 2 | 1 | 2 [1] | 0 | 6.86 |
| Marco Carparelli | 20 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.60 |
| Francesco Coco | 41 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7.00 |
| Sérgio Conceição | 31 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6.68 |
| Daniel Daino | 46 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 7.04 |
| Gaetano De Rosa | 22 | 0 | 1 | 6 [2] | 0 | 6.55 |
| Patrik Fredholm | 26 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6.62 |
| Daniele Garzja | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Roberto Goretti | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.00 |
| Daniel Haupt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Marco Haupt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.50 |
| Giuseppe Imburgia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Filippo Inzaghi | 39 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 7.33 |
| Pierre Laigle | 43 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 6.58 |
| Aitor Larrazábal | 22 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.64 |
| Giovanni Lopez | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.27 |
| Michel | 32 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 6.44 |
| Nicola Mora | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Stefano Morrone | 18 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6.72 |
| Stilian Petrov | 35 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 6.97 |
| Diego Placente | 38 | 1 | 0 | 11 [2] | 4 | 7.03 |
| Fabio Rossitto | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.48 |
| Kabba Samura | 29 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7.17 |
| Cosimo Sarli | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.00 |
| Miguel Ángel Soria | 27 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6.41 |
| Julien Tholot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Paulo Vernazza | 19 | 0 | 1 | 4 [1] | 0 | 6.42 |
| Boudewijn Zenden | 36 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6.75 |
SEASON REVIEW & EPILOGUE
Though we didn’t score as many league goals this season, Bordi still enjoyed his best Serie A campaign on a personal level. 18 goals in 26 matches – imagine if he hadn’t spent the best part of two months out injured! While his real-life Napoli career never took off, he will go down as a bona-fide Partenopei legend in this universe.
Our next-top scorer this term was Samura, who got 13 – though only five of them were in the league. The young Sierra Leonean is our most valuable player (rated at £12.5million) and is on track to enjoy a lucrative career in his own right.
A more underrated star in this Napoli team is Francesco Coco. He doesn’t look like the most amazing left-back in the world, but Coco pops in consistently solid performances in defence… and he can produce a few assists too. I like him.
I really like Daino as well. I can still remember when he was a raw 18-year-old, and now he’s developed into an exceptional right-back – and perhaps an even better centre-half. Daino is now a key member of the Italy squad, and I have a feeling he won’t be shacking up at Derby County any time soon!
Bordi and Daino were both with me every step of the way, but I think we should salute our other ever-presents. Goalkeeper Giuseppe Taglialatela is leaving this summer after a decade of service, and Lopez will probably hang up his boots. Fabio Rossitto didn’t play a great deal this season but is still a useful defensive midfielder. Even Roberto Goretti has stuck around long enough to make one more brief cameo.
Back in 1998, I inherited a Partenopei squad at its lowest ebb, having been relegated to Serie B. After coming straight back up at the first attempt, we quickly re-established ourselves in Serie A, finishing 10th and then 6th before everything clicked together last term.
I tested various tactics during this series – but even in the land of catenaccio, it turns out that the classic 4-4-2 is king! It wasn’t always pretty to watch (I’ve lost count of all those 0-0 draws and opposition super-keepers we encountered) but the results were obviously there.
Now… I would be very tempted to extend this save into a sixth season, so I can have another stab at winning either the Champions League or the Coppa Italia. Perhaps I could finally break our Semi Final jinx?
But as I’m writing this, I’m getting ready to move house (yes, it’s finally happening) – and as such, I don’t have much time to devote to the blog or to Championship Manager right now. So this time, I am going to call it here, and leave Napoli as a two-time league champion – and with my protégé Bordi being officially crowned as the best footballer in the world.
Ciao, Gabriel. Arrivederci, Napoli.
Grazie, and thank you for following this retro Championship Manager series. It’s been a wonderful journey from Serie B to the Champions League, and I hope I’ve told a captivating story for you.
I will revisit CM3 one final time next Friday, with a special post looking back at what the various coaches at Euro 2024 were doing 26 years ago. That will be my last post on here for a while, as I’m now taking an extended break to focus on the house move and other family stuff.
A presto, amici.
Fuller FM 
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