Football is littered with tales from days gone by, accusations of chairmen and owners of football clubs who simply could not, or would not, refrain from interfering in team affairs and who were all too willing to give their opinion on how much better the team would perform if the manager adopted their formation, their line up, or their tactics; often publicly to the annoyance of the man in the technical area.

 

Of course, more often than not, these delusions of grandeur masked the fact these businessmen had no idea about what was required to succeed in the dugout environment, let alone select a starting XI, coach them, and guide them through 90 minutes every weekend.

 

And so, it is with a mixture of anger and disbelief that I find myself reading reports of unrest between Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri and club President/movie mogul, Aurelio De Laurentiis. Sarri has been a revelation at the San Paolo, introducing a brand of passing, flowing, attacking football that is arguably the envy of supporters across Italy and Napoli supporters are now looking on nervously as their President seemingly enters self-destruct mode.

 

De Laurentiis is a character, he provides and even writes headlines on his own when he opens his mouth, but most recently he has been reported to have criticised both Sarri and the team after their loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League knock out phase tie last week; the same Real Madrid who won the competition last season and who possess not only a winning mentality but two of the best and most expensive players on the planet. 

 

The Napoli owner went on to accuse all but Lorenzo Insigne of lacking ‘cazzimma’ (a Neapolitan term for cynicism) and bizarrely took a swipe at Sarri’s team selection by complaining that he had invested money in players that never play; he may have signed the cheques, but with that single statement, De Laurentiis over stepped the mark.

 

Perhaps it’s jealousy or envy on De Laurentiis’ part, but as an outsider looking in, it feels like Sarri has become so revered by the Napoli support and afforded so much adoration that his temper has snapped. 

 

Sarri is the darling of the Napoli support, and little wonder. The local boy who moved away as a child but who never forgot his roots, Sarri found management late in life after quitting his job as a city banker, a decision which would ultimately, through hard work and talent, bring him home to his beloved Napoli. 

 

This standing with the support, despite all De Laurentiis has done for the club, appears to rankle with the club president and it is this insecurity which could see Napoli unravel before our very eyes this summer.

 

Now, excuse me for the brief history lesson, but to understand where De Laurentiis is going with all of this you must first understand where he has been. 2004 is a year etched in the mind and hearts of Napoli supporters for the wrong reasons; the club all but ceased to exist, liquidated and expelled from the professional leagues, the future looked bleak for Campania’s largest and most revered football club. 

 

Aurelio De Laurentiis, as he has so often publicly stated during interview after interview, stepped in as he could not believe a club of Napoli’s stature did not exist anymore and so the ‘new’ Napoli, named Napoli Soccer, was born and new life was breathed into Naples once more; the city had its football club back, but not with the name supporters were accustomed to, and it is this that De Laurentiis continues to throw in the faces of Napoli supporters.

 

De Laurentiis, to complete the comeback, went to court and paid €32m for the name ‘SSC Napoli’, a fact he likes to mention time and again and has done several times this season already, in fact at one press conference prior to Napoli’s tie with Roma, he proclaimed that had he not come along and paid for the name, it could have been ‘Campania’ vs Roma at the San Paolo, a bizarre outburst which came with his manager sitting alongside him, looking somewhat perplexed as to the point of it all.

 

Yes, De Laurentiis saved the club, and yes the supporters are grateful to him for doing so and for spending what he did on the name to give the club back the identity it so richly deserves, but he has got to stop parading the fact like a badge of honour and allow the man he has hired to do the job he was hired to do; any goodwill felt for his act of saving the club will be diminished in an instant should his incessant need for adoration and recognition drive the one man out of the club who could, potentially, take Napoli to another level.

 

What concerned me was that in the aftermath of De Laurentiis’ post match comments in Madrid, he saw fit to jet off to the USA, dropping the proverbial pipe bomb before leaving a shell shocked manager and squad to face the press, actions which were shortly followed by a self imposed press ban by the club. Back on Italian soil, Napoli took on Chievo and got back to winning ways with a 3-1 win, but the team line up told a telling tale; Maksimovic and Pavoletti coming in for Albiol and Mertens - did Sarri react to De Laurentiis’ comments regarding never seeing players he spends money on or was it just a coincidence? I, along with my Napoli supporters, will hope it was the latter.

 

Yes, De Laurentiis does spend money on the side and is entitled to want a return, but it is important to realise that while he does invest in the squad it is not at the high end of the market. His policy now is to buy low and sell high, bringing in young talents like the exceptional Diawara and Zielinski and hope that they develop into players he can, one day, move on for large profit. The irony of this is that, in terms of player development, he already has the best man for that job. 

 

Asking Napoli to compete on a level playing field with Real Madrid with that kind of transfer strategy is utter folly, although ironically Sarri did manage to coach this Napoli side into taking an early lead at the Bernabeu. Bottom line, if De Laurentiis wants Napoli to compete with the Real Madrid’s of this world, he needs to aim higher in the market and look to bring in recognised, world class players, but that’s another debate and another column; because we all know that what’s stopping Napoli signing the very best is as much to do with De Laurentiis’ need for image right control as it is his wallet.

 

Perhaps it would be best for De Laurentiis to take a step back and look at where Napoli are right now compared to years gone by in his tenure, playing a brand of football that is being lauded across Europe by fans and pundits alike as the club fights on three fronts; Serie A, Champions League, and Coppa Italia. Sarri has taken Napoli to a level beyond that which any previous manager in the De Laurentiis reign has seen, Serie A heavyweights who can cope with the very best in the league, if not a little inconsistent from time to time, but this should come with experience as long as De Laurentiis allows this side, and their manager, to grow together.

 

Reports on Tuesday emerged that after the game against Palermo, which finished 1-1, De Laurentiis came to the dressing room to express his displeasure at the result, actions which did not go down well with both the manager and his squad with suggestions that Pepe Reina had to step up and intervene to calm tempers and ease the tension between several parties. Now, the cynic in me looks at these rumours and can’t help but wonder if this is mischief making at play, the footballing equivalent of Chinese Whispers.

The Palermo game was on January 29th, over two weeks prior to the Real Madrid match, and was followed up by a resounding 7-1 win at Bologna. Would a team, so annoyed and despondent due to their owner’s comments and actions really rally back to win so convincingly or are these reports this week simply reporting nothing because there’s nothing to report due to the clubs’ self imposed media ban.

 

De Laurentiis needs to decide whether his own ego is worth it, if he’s willing to let go of his own need to be number one and allow Sarri to do his job or lose him forever. We’ve all seen the rumblings of Juventus being interested in Sarri should Allegri move on in the summer and while many Napoli fans will shake their heads and say, ‘He’d never go there’, this is football we’re talking about here, there are no absolutes, no certainties and loyalty only goes so far.  No-one could have foreseen Higuain going to Juventus and yes, while Sarri is Neapolitan, the Higuain move should remain a wake up call to Napoli fans that anything can and usually does happen in this game.

 

It would be unthinkable and unimaginable to lose Sarri to a rival such as Juventus due to interference from boardroom level, and while De Laurentiis deflected the Higuain move and survived it due to nothing more than an activated release clause, the notion that Sarri was forced out the door through constant interference and criticism from within the club would be the last straw for many Napoli supporters.

 

Now, of course, this could all be one giant ruse, with both Sarri and De Laurentiis hiding behind the press black out, pulling the strings in a well orchestrated media puppet show and indeed some fans have said to me in person that they wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case. However, while the optimist in me would like to believe that, I’m much more of a realist and the old saying, ‘There’s no smoke without fire’ instantly comes to mind.

 

So yes, while supporters should always be grateful to De Laurentiis for saving the club, he needs to realise that this act alone does not bring with it immunity from criticism when his actions appear to be doing the club more harm than good. Instead of engaging in what looks like borderline self sabotage, how about sitting back and enjoying the view; because it’s been one hell of a show from where I’ve been watching this season.



James McGhie (@jrmcghie) is the host and producer of the Calciomercato.com podcast