It wasn't a great start to the season for Davide Nicola, as the Crotone boss brought the team into their first ever season in Serie A on the back of losing a large chunk of the squad that got them there, and it showed.
It took them 12 games into the campaign before they managed a win and from there they spent the majority of the season at rock bottom 20th.
They did have a few valid excuses, however. Because of the team's small stature they had to renovate their stadium to meet league standards, this resulted in them in playing their first two months in a stadium 100km away.
After 28 games they had 14 points and stood eight points away from safety, although their form was so horrific there wasn't a chance in hell that they were going to pull off any kind of escape.
It was around this point that their manager said that if they managed to stay in Serie A, he would "go by bicycle from Crotone to Turin", a mere 1,200km route.
Amazingly they did it. They won 5/8 of their next games before beating Lazio on the final day.
At the same time as their 3-1 win over Lazio, Palermo were facing Empoli and Crotone needed Palermo to win so that they could leapfrog Empoli into safety and sit outside the relegation zone for the first time since their first game of the season.
Palermo were already down, but were sound lads and pulled off the win to trigger wild scenes in Crotone:
#SerieA Resumen jornada 38. El Crotone obra el milagro y se salva ganando a la Lazio y con la derrota del Empoli - https://t.co/5QrCejdsk2 pic.twitter.com/XGE0wELdao
— SportBall (@SportBallFutbol) May 29, 2017
True to his word, David Nicola has announced that he will be setting on his bike this morning, and will be stopping at six clubs he used to play for along the way before passing by Turin and finishing in Vigone, his home town.
When it comes to football bets this is probably one of the craziest we've seen, maybe next season he should consider something a little less extreme like hosting Match of the Day in his underwear.
