There can be no doubting the transformation that Sinisa Mihajlovic has performed on a once badly struggling Sampdoria side who he took over on the brink of relegation but turned into a solid mid-table team in less than a season. His goal to to build even further on that this campaign and he did just that with a wonderful seventh place finish. The fact that some consider that standing to be a disappointment shows how far Samp have come under the Serbian coach. They made an excellent start including a long unbeaten run and often occupied the Champions League spots, let alone the Europa League ones. However, a worrying trend is beginning to emerge as the players dropped their level significantly towards the end of the campaign, just as they did last year around the same time. The January departure of their 2013/14 player of the season, Manolo Gabbiadini, to Napoli was a difficult pill to swallow. Mihajlovic brought in a mixture of experience and youth to replace him in the form of the legendary Samuel Eto'o and the exciting prodigy that is Luis Muriel. However, the signings brought mixed results with Eto'o causing more off the field stories than on it. Muriel only showed flashes of brilliance but the sense is that there is more to come from him. Gabbiadini was a constant source of quality before his departure but Eder remained consistent throughout the whole season which culminated in the Brazilian born forward finally getting an international call-up but not by his homeland, by his adopted home of Italy. Samp's seventh place finish would usually see them just miss out on Europe but they were lucky that some financial and clerical issues meant that 6th place bitter rivals, Genoa, were not granted a Uefa license. It will make the Blucerchiati's run in Europe next season all the more sweeter. However, that will be soured by the news that Mihajlovic will depart to coach AC Milan.
