Ranieri is a serious coach and he usually gets the best out of the squads he is given and this season was no execption. After leading Sampdoria to safety in the second half of the past campaign, he was confirmed at the helm with an almost untouched squad. In fact, midfielder Linetty left but was adequately replaced by promising Adrien Silva.
Sampdoria started the season with back-to-back defeats, to Juventus and neo-promoted Benevento respectively, but they immediately reacted and brought home 3 consecutive wins and a draw, reaching the top 6 in week 6.
After that, their path became utterly inconsistent as they only managed to obtain more than 2 wins in a row again in the final weeks of the campaign. Between weeks 7 and 30, they were just unpredictable and would prove capable of outstanding results as the 2-1 win over Inter in week 16 or a disappointing 1-3 defeat to Bologna in week 28.
Whatever the results, Ranieri kept repeating that they aimed at reaching 52 points and he eventually proved right, as Sampdoria won 5 of the last 8, closing the season on a high, making 9th spot, with back-to-back wins over Udinese and Parma.
Sampdoria did not excel in any department and broke no records, they were just the perfect image of averageness, which is typical of Ranieri.
At 38, captain Quagliarella was once again the top scorer of the team, with 13 goals, while inconsistent Keita and too-often injured Gabbiadini proved rather disappointing up-front. Candreva, who at some point looked on the verge of quitting the club, scored 5 and provided 8 assists.
However, Yoshida, at the back, produced several remarkable performances while Adrien Silva left the mark whenever he was on the pitch.
Since Ranieri delivers what he promises, he was not deemed suitable for another season at Sampdoria. Not many coaches are capable of doing better than him with this kind of squad, though.
