In an incredibly eventful Serie A season, one of the stories which may go under the radar is the fantastic job that Leonardo Semplici has done to establish SPAL in the top flight.
Having just about survived by the skin of their teeth last year, many tipped SPAL to struggle with the dreaded "second season syndrome" but they started the campaign in terrific form - at one point having the best defence in the league and sitting 2nd only to Juventus in the table.
Inevitably, this modestly assembled squad couldn't keep up those high early season standards and just 1 win in 19 matches across all competitions put them back in trouble but SPAL showed they had become streetwise in the top flight and had the nous to pick up important results when they needed them. They managed to do the double over Roma - plus wins over the likes of Lazio and Juventus helped secure safety early.
A lot of their success was built on defensive solidity with a very respectable 10 clean sheets to end the season but they also have some exciting players going forward. Manuel Lazzari remains a ball of energy up and down the right flank - he finished with 8 assists - the same tally as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo. Jasmin Kurtic had arguably the best season of his nomadic career with 6 goals and 5 assists whilst Andrea Petagna struck 16 goals up front.
If it weren't for Gian Piero Gasperini's heroics at Atalanta, Semplici would arguably be a shoo-in for Manager of the Year and he could be the one man above anyone else that SPAL will be desperate to hold onto in the summer.
