09:00 Breaking news out of the City of Genoa today (31/05/2022): We understand that Sampdoria manager Alessio Burdese has today resigned with immediate effect. More information to follow…
13:00 Alessio has released a statement which I will translate into English:
“Today I made one of the most difficult choices I’ll ever have to make and I have handed in my resignation to the board here at the club. I would like to thank everyone at the club from the chairman, the players and all staff who have been a part of our journey over the past four seasons. As everyone knows, one of my greatest regrets was never getting to wear the kit in my playing days, but, to make up for that by winning two league titles and the Europa League is even more special.
To the fans, I say, I have never stopped, and never will stop, being one of you. I’ll always be that boy watching in the stands at 5 years old falling madly in love. However, for now I have to put my family first, it has been well publicised that due to private reasons my wife and children moved to Australia earlier this year. These last few months have been some of the hardest in my life and my family are now settled in their new home, and I must go and join them. I can’t in good conscience as a Husband or a Father stay here in Italy longer than I already have.
I thank you all again and I will be watching our great clubs progress as much as any fan moving forward. Goodbye my team, my players, my colleagues and our fans. Alessio.
About the Author
Sonia Costantini was born in Córdoba Argentina in 1993, her family moved to her fathers native Florence in 1995. Sonia attended her first Fiorentina match in 1997 (aged 4) and thus began her love affair with football. By the age of 5, she had become, self-described, a Gabigol girl. A fanatic to the Argentine forward Gabriel Batistuta and an ardent supporter of La Viola throughout her childhood and teenage years. A move to the USA at 18 on a soccer scholarship to Duke University was next for Sonia, however, upon graduating with her degree in Journalism she decided to take up the pen rather than to the field. Since then in her journalism career, she has covered a range of areas but has specialised in reporting of Italian Football over the past few seasons.
About the Publication
“A Slice of Cheese” The Fanzine was started in 2015 by two Australian brothers, initially covering the A-League in a free online format. The name was taken from the humorous viral video of some Australian commentary, which quickly became part of the football vocabulary. It quickly expanded and became a hit over the following years, allowing many talented writers to write topically and personally about football in Australia.
Having garnered that initial success, the free fanzine opened a Patreon with the aim of expanding to cover other leagues and allow access to more sportswriters. The Patreon quickly reached its target allowing the largely amateur outfit to pay a writing staff and produce more content. However, the most exciting time in the ‘zines publication was yet to come. Two sizeable donations from anonymous benefactors known only as “Pinturicchio” & “Bobo” were given to the publication, with the condition that they also include Italian football coverage.
With this move to a more international market, it was decided that a re-branding was required. The “Slice of cheese” name would continue for their A-League coverage, however, the company would become what is now known as “The Diamond” (a nod to the fact if you rotate a square cheese slice it becomes a diamond shape). The Italian branch of the online fanzine would go by “The Fantasista” (the traditional name given to a creative number 10, often deployed in a diamond formation).
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