Davide Nicola maintains Genoa ‘deserved to secure our Serie A safety a little earlier’ than the final round, but ‘it was like saving ourselves twice.’
It was a chaotic campaign for the Grifone, as Aurelio Andreazzoli was fired on October 22, then his replacement Thiago Silva lasted until December 28 and Nicola was drafted in from January.
He oversaw eight wins, four draws and nine defeats, amassing 28 points in 21 rounds.
Davide Nicola maintains Genoa ‘deserved to secure our Serie A safety a little earlier’ than the final round, but ‘it was like saving ourselves twice.’
It was a chaotic campaign for the Grifone, as Aurelio Andreazzoli was fired on October 22, then his replacement Thiago Silva lasted until December 28 and Nicola was drafted in from January.
He oversaw eight wins, four draws and nine defeats, amassing 28 points in 21 rounds.
“We frankly deserved to secure our safety a little earlier,” Nicola told DAZN and Sky Sport Italia after their final 3-0 win over Hellas Verona.
“What interests me is the team and since I arrived, we have put together enough points to be ninth in the table. It would’ve been a failure not to achieve our target, because in our business, it’s all about results.
“It has been like saving ourselves twice. As in the first half of my season, we made up the gap and caught Lecce in the table. In the second half, we overtook them and had to stay there.
“The paradox is that if we hadn’t won tonight, it might all have been for nothing. We won the head-to-head matches, including above all with Lecce in the crucial moment of the season. We had enough points to be ninth during this period and that’s something to be proud of.”
Nicola was wearing a special shirt during the celebrations, which had a photograph of him in his playing days for Genoa holding up his baby towards the Curva full of ultras.
“Many years ago, the Genoa fans gave me so much joy. When I came back here as a coach, they gave me a photograph that I didn’t even remember taking, so I had to pay back that debt to them.
“The only pain today is that our fans weren’t with there with us to celebrate.”