Farewell Reja

By: Neil | March 11th, 2009

Managers are hired to be fired. Instead of analyzing Reja’s dismissal, which was inevitable, I’d rather take a look at all his accomplishments in the last five years at Napoli.

When Reja arrived at Napoli back in the middle of the 2004-05 season, he inherited a Serie C1/B team that was supposed to be competing for a promotion spot but was underachieving. Reja very quickly turned things around, and by the end of the season Napoli was one of the best teams in Serie C1. I’m not exactly sure what position Napoli was in when Reja took over, but he guided the team to a third place finish and a spot in the playoffs against Sambenettedese. Napoli drew the first leg 1-1 in Sambenettedese before winning 2-0 at home to advance to the playoff final against Avellino. The two teams drew 0-0 at the San Paolo in the first leg leaving everything to play for in the return leg in Avellino. Napoli lost the second leg 2-1 and stayed in Serie C1/B. Reja was criticized for failing to beat local rivals Avellino but in his defence he was not manager for the full season, and if not for him the team likely would not have even reached the playoffs.

Reja got a clean start for the 2005-06 season and led Napoli to the Serie C1/B title. The team finished the season with 13 more points than second place Frosinone. The club also led the league in both goals for and goals against. In a sign of things to come for next season, Napoli conceded only 20 goals in 34 C1/B games that season. The next Serie B campaign would be a memorable one as in addition to Napoli both Juventus and Genoa were in Serie B due to scandals and financial problems. Napoli put up great numbers once again, finishing in second place with just 5 losses from 42 games. In 21 games at the San Paolo, Napoli won eleven and drew nine to go undefeated at home. The team also led the league again with only 29 goals conceded, one fewer than champions Juventus. Automatic promotion to Serie A was secured on the last day of the season with a 0-0 draw in Genoa. As soon as Napoli was promoted there were doubts raised about Reja’s lack of Serie A experience and in general his ability to lead a project that was clearly taking off.

In Napoli’s first Serie A game in many year the team suffered from a bit of nerves and dropped a 2-0 home game to Cagliari despite controlling most of the match. The next week Napoli put in one of their most memorable performances under Reja by demolishing Udinese 5-0 in Udine. It was a great response to all of Reja’s critics who said he couldn’t manage in Serie A. Other great games from last year included a 3-1 home win over Juventus, an exciting 4-4 draw with Roma in which Gargano scored a piledriver and Zalayeta headed a last minute equalizer. But Reja’s biggest achievement with Napoli came in early March when Inter came to the San Paolo undefeated. There was talk of Inter going undefeated the whole year, and nobody expected Napoli to be the team to stop them. But Zalayeta sent the crowd into a frenzy with a third minute goal and Napoli held on to end Inter’s unbeated run.

After the Inter game it was clear that Reja was the right person for the job. The team was firmly entrenched in mid-table and any worries about relegation had been removed much earlier in the season. From March until the end of the season Napoli played consistently good football and climbed up to 8th in the table, good enough for an Intertoto Cup spot. On the second last matchday of the season Napoli again shocked everyone by cruising to a 3-1 home victory over AC Milan, denying the Milan club a spot in the Champions League. Despite the success there were still questions about Reja’s tactics, but the results from that season proved he was doing something right.

I’m not going to recap this year because I think most of the good moments early in the season are still fresh in everyone’s memory. The high point was of course defeating Benfica 3-2 in the first leg of the UEFA Cup tie at the San Paolo. At that point, who could imagine that Napoli’s season would turn into a freefall from mid-December onwards?

In his time at Napoli Reja earned a reputation as a conservative manager who always acted with professionalism and class. He preached hard work, discipline, and created a team spirit that until this year was second to none in all of Italian calcio. His five years at Napoli represent the pinnacle of his managing and playing career, and he often said that the city felt like a home for him. In one of the recent crisis meetings he showed how much he cared about the club by declaring, “If I’m the problem here, I’ll resign.” I will always admire and respect him for that more than any accomplishment the team won on the field.

In saying goodbye to the team he exhibited the same class that he displayed while in the manager’s position. He has nothing but good things to say about his time in Napoli, and wishes the team and new manager Roberto Donadoni all the best going forward.

The best way for me to end is to express my gratitude for all he gave to the club and the city of Napoli. Even though his time was up, I’m going to miss him.

Stay tuned over the next few days for a post about incoming boss Donadoni.