No Cagliari player spoke after the 0-2 defeat to Empoli, but president Tommaso Giulini showed up in the press room at the Domus and announced that the rossoblù will soon be going into retreat. "I'm here because we're so sorry, it's right that as the club's highest official I also express this complicated feeling," the rossoblù patron explained. "After the unspeakable incidents that happened against Napoli, we closed by conceding four goals, after the 0-2 we melted like snow in the sun and this must not happen."
The president questions himself first: «Maybe the problem is me. In these years we have always found the keys, even after Venice, but today at this moment I don't see it and it's right that I question myself. I have received a lot in these years and I have given a lot, maybe now I am the one who is giving less energy. It is right that first of all I have to do the analysis on myself. If we are in this situation today I will have made some incorrect assessments, but even on that I struggle to understand the mistakes made in the summer».
At the end of the match Giulini had a brief discussion with Nicola. "We spoke before, I told him that this evening I felt I had to apologize to our fans," he revealed. "I'm very sorry, but so are all the rossoblù people: I also asked him if he wanted me to speak alone, instead he wanted to hold the conference too. Then I told him that, given that this team has to find the keys to get out, I would have liked him to go into retreat tomorrow and we agreed with him and Bonato that in the next few days there will be a retreat. It is not my intention to delegitimize anyone: they will decide the duration ."
Giulini's analysis is clear: « Obviously our people expect something completely different from us, it is right that I am here to say that we are also very sorry for the bad performance we had this evening. And it is not only about today's match: we had started the year believing we would start better, because we had four home games interspersed with the defeat in Lecce. Instead, unfortunately, after five games we have only collected two draws and we are coming from three defeats ».
Giulini draws up an initial assessment of Cagliari's season and the results are merciless: "Today - rightly - lead us to reflect. Both the coach and the director and the group must talk to each other and get to know this championship, which we immediately understood after five days to be complicated until the end, as they all have been. This group is healthy, Ranieri last year brought it together even more, giving it a soul and making people understand what this shirt means ."
Giulini saves the Cagliari team: « I don't see any bad apples, tonight on the pitch we saw some reactions between teammates that weren't nice, probably due to nerves. They have to find the key within themselves, together with the director and coach, to meet the expectations at the start of the season. Which certainly weren't two points in five games». On the choices: « I can't say that Makoumbou, in his first start, performed below expectations after 45 minutes, maybe I'll be able to say that after four months but not now».
For his part, he rules out that Nicola and Bonato are at risk : "No, I've been through a lot in these eleven years. I'll tell you the truth: I'm happy to work with them, from the first day he arrived I've seen a union between him and the director. I respect Bonato a lot and I see that there is great harmony with him, the coach and the team. I'll have to deal with this: I don't see any big problems with the technical management and the team, I've never felt comfortable with a sports director like Bonato and we've created a solid structure".
Giulini is very down today. And he believes there is only one recipe to lift his, Cagliari's and the fans' spirits: « I think it can only be found with the team's performances, when the fans will see performances for ninety-five minutes that will give us self-esteem . After Venice I said very clearly that it was a very delicate moment, I had quite a clear idea of how we could get out of it. Here, honestly, I believe that the only way is through work on the pitch to get to the spark that makes us turn the season around and reach the goal. Today maybe you see me so disillusioned because I don't have the key: they have to find it, I don't have it».
Asked if he thinks the squad is not up to the standard of Serie A, Giulini disagrees: «Until a few days ago we were convinced that this team was complete enough to play for this salvation, with pairs for each role. This is the message I received from the technical area. It has values within it, in the past years the two relegations came about due to relationships that have festered in the locker room. Here instead I see men, real and clean people who want to reach the objective . If the squad is not adequate it is my fault, because I signed the contracts and I approved the purchases. In this case we would have made mistakes».
In closing, Giulini indicates what bothers him the most: «I am more concerned about the standings, because I may be naive but I think that this working group will find the key. I can't understand how with these values, this director and this coach we are in this position. It must be their concern: I am more concerned about the two points in the standings».