Chasing the Big Leagues – Torino (Serie B)

Tales from Tier Two is a new series on Just Football in partnership with @tiertwofooty, in which we assess the promotion chances of the clubs in tier two of Europe’s major leagues at the midway point of 2011/12. First we assessed France’s Ligue 2 followed by Germany’s Bundesliga II. Now we head to Italy to look at Serie B, starting with league leaders Torino:

Torino

The race to kick off next season in Serie A looks set to go to the wire as inconsistency dominates at the head of Serie B. Torino head the table in mid-January despite only picking up 1 win from their last 4 games.

Historically Torino are one of the most successful teams in Italy but they have also been beset with troubles in recent years. Seven time Scudetto winners 7 times (including 5 in a row between 1942 & 1949) the last time Torino lifted the title was in the 1975/76 season. They have finished runners-up 7 times and won the Coppa Italia 5 times. Torino also have valuable experience in climbing out of Serie B having done so on 6 occasions, 3 times as champions and more recently 3 times via the playoff system.

A club with a storied history, the 4th May 1949 is forever a black day for Torino and football in general, an occasion when all but one player perished as the plane carrying the squad crashed into the hills of Superga on the outskirts of Turin.

In 2005 Torino won promotion from Serie B after winning the playoffs but they were denied promotion alongside Messina due to financial problems. Messina successfully appealed the decision but Torino were forced to re-form and lost the majority of their players.

Back to the present day and life in Turin is currently progressing quite well for experienced manager Giampiero Ventura. Ventura, a coach since 1976, joined Torino in the summer after being dismissed at Bari last February with the Puglia outfit sitting 9 points adrift at the foot of Serie A. The 63-year-old Genoa born man has led Lecce & Cagliari to Serie A and has also managed at Sampdoria, Udinese and Napoli.

This season, Torino began well and won 10 of their opening 13 games but only 3 of the following 9 as they aim to secure automatic promotion back to Serie A after 5th and 8th placed finishes in the last 2 seasons since relegation. This summer brought many new faces to the Stadio Olimpico. Alessandro Parisi joined from Ventura’s former club Bari, Nigerian Osariemen Ebagua came in from Varese but has so failed to make the impact he made in Lombardy last season. AC Milan loaned goalkeeper Ferdinando Coppola and he has impressed in his 21 games so far.

In front of Coppola is Angelo Ogbonna who has been a rock at centre back; the 23 year old made his international debut for the Azzurri in a 2-0 win in Poland, replacing Criscito for the last 13 minutes of the November friendly. Shrewd defences are proving vital in Serie B this season and Torino’s is the best to date with only 14 goals conceded. Going forward Rolando Bianchi, he of former Manchester City fame (?), is another key player.

Ventura recently secured the co-ownership of Riccardo Meggiorini with Genoa and the former Under-19 and U-20 striker is set to make his debut shortly. There are also rumours of the possible signings of defender Salvatore Masiello from Bari & Uruguayan forward Henry Gimenez.

Position: 1st

Points clear of chasing pack: 3

Will last the pace or tire in the race? Last the pace, but will need to keep an eye on Zdenek Zemen’s Pescara.

Predicted final position: 1st

Key Man: Angelo Ogbonna – Signed for the Granata Youth Academy & capped at Under 21 and full international level, if Torino don’t get promotion Ogbonna could well move to Serie A without them.

Up next: Sassuolo and the chasing pack. Follow the excellent @tiertwofooty on Twitter. You can also keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us @JustFootball

Italian Serie A, Italian Serie B, Italy, Tier Two Football, Torino FC