Stankovic: “Every game a final”

Dejan Stankovic is officially the new Sampdoria coach. Despite the fact that the team are languishing in the lower reaches of Serie A the Serbian was very keen to rise to the challenge:

“I’ve not joined because Samp are bottom on two points. I know what the club are about. I grew up in Serbia watching Sampdoria, firstly with Vujadin Boskov and latterly Mihajlovic and Jugovic, with Sinisa taking charge as coach. I also followed Sampdoria in the Champions League. It’s a shame that I couldn’t work as a ball boy because of the game being played on neutral ground in Sofia. I’m convinced that my assistant Nenad Sakic, who was Sinisa Mihajlovic’s assistant when they managed to stay up at Bologna, will be a great help to me here.

“We’ve got two days to prepare for Bologna on Saturday away from home. We should treat every game as if it were our last, as if it were a final. Just as my former coach and good friend Jose Mourinho said, finals are to be won, not just to take part in. That’s how I also see it. We’ve got to change our attitude and stand up and be counted because we’ve got to defend Sampdoria’s honour.”