The more things change, the more things stay the same for Genoa. Several changes were made in terms of managers and squad personnel but, in the end, Genoa failed to improve on their 17th place finish from last season - once again, just narrowly avoiding relegation. The summer saw the departure of a few big names. Top scorer and player of the year Rodrigo Palacio departed for Inter whilst another striker in Alberto Gilardino also left. Much travelled veteran Marco Borriello and exciting youngster Ciro Immobile were brought in to help replace the goals. Other young players such as Mario Samprisi, Andrea Bertolacci and Alexander Merkel promised a fresh beginning for Il Grifone. Luigi De Canio remained in charge at the start of the season and made quite a bright start. However, despite all the changes to the squad, the old issues remained as Genoa were still very susceptible to leaking goals. Still, it came as some surprise that De Canio was sacked after just eight games having only lost three of them. A 4-2 loss at home to Roma in a game which they lead 2-0 proved to be the last straw for notoriously impatient club president Enrico Preziosi. It was a game that highlighted all of the side's strenghts as well as their deficiencies. They were quite exciting going forward with Immobile looking bright alongside Borriello who was a potent finisher for much of the season. Juraj Kucka had his best campaign in Italian football and Bertolacci proved he was a potential star of the future. However, they were just as capable of collapsing at the other end. This lead to the president calling upon the services of Lugi Del Neri. The veteran coach attempted to change the whole team's ethos with a very defensive style of play which didn't suit many of the players at his disposal and it showed as he started with a horrific run of five straight defeats. His disciplinarian style of man management was also unpopular and it's a wonder that he was able to last longer than De Canio having won just two of his thirteen games in charge whilst losing nine. Genoa looked like a team destined for relegation and then Preziosi called upon an old friend as Davide Ballardini was given the task of saving Genoa for the second time in his career. The club also made some shrewd purchases in the January transfer window. Veteran defenders Thomas Manfredini and Daniele Portanova were brought in to help improve the poor defensive record. Francelino Matuzalem added experience and bite to the midfield also. However, the new coach used a much more bold approach than his predecessor and got the results as a reward. He went unbeaten in his first five games which included a draw with Juventus and wins over both Lazio and Udinese. The team then went five games without a win but were picking up crucial points here and there before basically securing their safety with back-to-back victories at the right time over fellow strugglers Chievo and Pescara. Ballardini had again managed to pull off the great escape but one only wonders if he'll still be in charge next season as change seems inevitable at this club.
