Catanzaro went above and beyond all expectations last season.

The Calabrian outfit won promotion to Serie B two years ago after languishing in the lower tiers of the Italian game for 16 years and, in their first season back since 2005-06, they finished a very admirable fifth in the table.

That meant going into the Serie B promotion play-offs.  Unfortunately for the southern side, they met an in-form Cremonese, who earned a 2-2 draw in Calabria, before taking them back to Lombardy and swatting them aside 4-1 at the Stadio Giovanni Zini.

Yet it was still a very positive season for Catanzaro, and there was every reason to believe they could build on the back of that campaign by once again pressing for promotion, or at least operating at the higher end of the table.

Things haven’t gone according to plan, however.

The Giallorossi have won just once in their opening eight games and find themselves in the bottom half of the table. 

Their only victory has come against newly-promoted Carrarese, while Fabio Caserta’s side have suffered losses to Cesena and Cremonese. Draws against Sassuolo, Cittadella and Juve Stabia mean Catanzaro are struggling to reproduce last season’s form, when they lost just one of their first 10.

Much of the weight will be on captain and striker Pietro Iemmello’s shoulders once again this season. The Italian has been with the club since January 2022 and has rattled in some 50 goals across two-and-a-half years. 

Iemmello scored 15 of them last season, and should Catanzaro attempt to repeat their exploits in 2023-24 and reach the playoffs, they’ll need the 32-year-old in top form.

Transfers: Catanzaro mostly operated in the free or loan signing market last summer. The likes of Giovanni Volpe and Mirko Pigliacelli arrived from Potenza and Palermo respectively, while Greek midfielder Ilias Koutsoupias signed from Benevento for €100,000. 

Mamadou Coulibaly arrived from Salernitana on a year-long deal with the option for a second. 

Catanzaro made some 10 loan deals last summer, including the likes of Riccardo Pagano, Demba Seck, Nicolo Buso, Mattia Compagnon and Andrea La Mantia. These deals are chiefly loans with no option to buy, and so at the end of the campaign most will return to their parent clubs.

Best performers: Iemello aside, Simone Pontisso has been one of the standout performers in the early rounds, with the central midfielder scoring twice in the first eight games. 

However, the loss of Iemello to a torn calf muscle could impact Catanzaro massively going forward, with the Italian set to be out for several weeks. 

Defensively, Catanzaro have been solid in certain games, namely the games against Cittadella, Salernitana and Juve Stabia, with Piglliacelli in-particular in fine form.

Tactics: In standard Italian fashion, Caserta has tended to alternate his tactics dependant on the opponent. For example against Salernitana he utilised a 4-2-3-1 system, yet for the following game at home to Modena he implemented a 5-3-2 formation.

Meanwhile against Cremonese, he shifted to a 4-4-2. Yet as the season wears on, expect Caserta to tinker some more.