Last season, Marco Giampaolo took over from Maurizio Sarri at Empoli and improved them from a 15th place finish to 10th. He has now done exactly the same thing at Sampdoria having replaced Vincenzo Montella so why does he not get the same universal praise as his predecessors? Perhaps it is because he isn't as flamboyant as either of those two managers and plays a brand of football that is more functional and tactical rather than expansive but the results at the end of the season speak for themselves. After a top half finish, it seems almost crazy to think that he was facing the sack in mid-October after just two points from six matches but a massive win over bitter rivals Genoa seemingly saved his job and the fact that Samp went on to do the double over the Grifone endeared Giampaolo even more to the supporters. As did other big name scalps including victories over Roma, Milan and a double over Inter. Sampdoria won six of nine games between the end of January and the start of April with just one defeat to champions Juventus in a sequence, comfortably securing their safety. They almost inevitably went off the boil in the last couple of months but the hard work had already been done. Giampaolo's achievement is made all the more incredible by the fact that he had to integrate so many new players and get them to gel quickly but the club's recruitment was excellent overall. Bruno Fernandes, Dennis Praet, Lucas Torreira and Karol Linetty all enjoyed fine debut seasons in midfield but perhaps one of the signings of the season in Serie A was that of Patrick Schick. The young Czech striker perhaps unfairly forged his name as a "Super Sub" but he managed to force his way into the starting eleven with some stunning performances and goals despite the fact that Luis Muriel and Fabio Quagliarella scored 23 times between them. Giampaolo has stabilised the club and has a fine young squad at his disposal - the challenge is to now take Sampdoria to the next level.
