Cesena suffered a large dose of "Second Season Syndrome" in a disappointing campaign. Having shocked many with the ease at which they stayed up last year and the style in which they did it, The Seahorses were unable to reproduce that same magic. Their success and exciting play came from the management of Massimo Ficcadenti who left the club amid accusations of fan abuse against him. Goodness knows what they were complaining about because things weren't about to get better.
Marco Giampaolo took charge, a seemingly polar opposite of Ficcadenti with his cautious, defensive approach. The new manager's style seemed to conflict with some of the summer purchases which included Eder, Antonio Candreva and the controversial, but super talented, Adrian Mutu - a trio of attacking talents that surely would've thrived under Ficcadenti. Instead they were stifled by Giampaolo's unambitious style. Cesena couldn't score and they were not strong enough at the back to carry out Giampaolo's instructions. He was sacked in October after six defeats from the first nine games and only three goals score - two of which were penalties.
Daniele Arrigoni took charge and began to make improvements. A few critical wins were achieved and Mutu started to perform. However it seemed the case that when he didn't show up, neither did the team. They were on the wrong end of some frightful thrashings either side of the new year. However, perhaps the watershed moment of the season came in February at Stadio Olimpico where they lead Lazio 2-0 at half-time with a man advantage but completely choked under pressure in the second half to lose the game. It exposed the soft underbelly of the side and was truly a demoralising loss. Arrigoni soon left, replaced by Mario Beretta who basically faced an impossible mission with the side cut adrift at the bottom. A run of five draws in a row finally displayed some fight from the team but it proved to be too little, too late as they were relegated with plenty of time to spare. With the array of attacking talent at their disposal, including January signing Vincenzo Iaquinta, there's no way Cesena should've surrendered so easily. The fact that Mutu was their best player tells a story as half the time he seemed disinterested.
