President Joe Tacopina: "We must look ahead with confidence and finish this season in the best way possible."

After SPAL’s resounding victory over Gubbio, President Joe Tacopina appeared at the press conference to comment on the team’s current situation:

"Today, it was essential to win. We had only one possible result: our victory combined with Milan’s draw gives us a double advantage in the play-out battle. I’m satisfied with the result, but also frustrated, because I would have liked to see this attitude throughout the entire season.
I’ve known many of these players for a long time. Today, I spoke to them and tried to show them my support and closeness. However, words mean little right now; at this point, we can only look ahead with confidence and try to finish the season in the best way possible.
It’s been a very tough season — perhaps the hardest one since I’ve been involved in football in Italy. Over the summer, together with Director Casella, we put together a team that we were sure would bring different results, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and we find ourselves in a complicated situation.
As I always say, tough times eventually pass, but tough people endure, and I’m confident that if we continue playing with the mentality and attitude we showed today, we can still save this season. Starting the next day, we’ll shift our focus to next season, trying to achieve what we weren’t able to accomplish this year.
My partner Marcello Follano and I are not giving up; we have injected 12 million euros into the club’s accounts again this year, and we have no intention of abandoning the project — whether we’re talking about Serie C next year, which I am sure will be the case, or Serie D."

On financial matters:
"When we took over SPAL, the club had 23 million euros in debt. Today, that has been reduced to about eight million, and the goal is to reduce it even further, eventually extinguishing it. This will allow us to finally make the Club financially sustainable.
Selling the Club? I’m open to listening to potential new investors or buyers, but I can guarantee you that, as of today, no one has come forward."

Regarding the future and club management:
"I like stability; I don’t make changes for the sake of changing or because I’m moody. Every time I’ve made changes in the past, it was because I wanted to give the Club another chance to succeed and because I saw no other solution.
This year, I allowed the managers we had selected to work with total autonomy, although I always remained involved in the decision-making process.
Do I hold anyone specifically responsible for this season’s disappointing results? No. Casella and Baldini, whom I’ve known since our time in Catania, have both my trust and that of my partner, Marcello Follano.
I believe this team has a lot of potential, but throughout the season, we consistently played below our capabilities.
We all need to look ourselves in the mirror, starting with the players on the pitch, but I don’t want to blame anyone individually: when things go wrong, it’s never just one person’s fault; it’s the result of a collective effort that, clearly, didn’t yield the desired results this time.
We still have two important matches left to play, and we must finish the season in the best way possible. After that, we’ll make further evaluations."

Speaking about the fans and the atmosphere around the team:
"I don't want to comment on the negative incidents that occurred today because I believe they speak for themselves: those who truly love SPAL support the team, they don’t cause problems or commit acts of violence like we’ve unfortunately seen even recently — incidents that, among other things, drove away potential investors who had approached the Club.
I love 99.9% of the people in this city, who show me affection every day.
Today, at the stadium, many people came up to me to show their solidarity and support despite the difficult season.
To me, these are the true SPAL fans: the ones who support the team, no matter what."