Parma, 24 October 2024 - Statements from the President of Parma Calcio, Kyle J. Krause, made during the television program “Morning Footy” on CBS Sports Golazo.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT

“I’m excited to be able to announce that we are extending the contract of our Men’s First Team Coach, Fabio Pecchia. Fabio’s been a, you know, fantastic asset to the club and an important part of us building what we want to do from a vision standpoint. So our new contract with Fabio runs to the 2026/27 season, and I think it's really just about, you know, positive collaboration that we’ve had together, him with the club, with myself. I enjoy time with him, he’s a great guy and I think as we see what he’s doing from a team cohesion standpoint, player performance, tactically, everything, he’s the right man for the job and the right man for the future so it's a commitment to him and a commitment to Parma Calcio Men’s future. Just going with the stability”. 

Thrilled to announce the contract extension of Head Coach Fabio Pecchia with our Men’s First Team at @1913parmacalcio and @ParmaCalcio_en. Looking forward to building on our success together. Watch today's @CBSSportsGolazo interview: https://t.co/tmTmXB6XzF

— Kyle J. Krause (@Kyle_J_Krause) 24 ottobre 2024

THE RIGHT TIME FOR THE RENEWAL

'Well, I’ll tell you a little story, Fabio and I talked last summer during Calciomercato during the market and I told him at that time we want to extend and spend time with him and in a very classic Fabio way he said, “Don’t spend really any time any effort on this, sign players, get the team together, you can talk to me after you do that”. And so really it was about just us putting the pieces together in the market over the summer, and then having the time when things are going well and settled down and so now’s the time to do it. It’s really his unselfishness that made us do what could have been a couple of months ago'.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND PECCHIA: A MAN AND A COACH

'Well, I think as a man first, that’s as important as anything as we are people. Fabio makes a connection with everybody with the players and the team. And really for him, it’s about, speaking for him, how we all work together as a team which can sound cliché in sports, but you certainly see teams where you get factions in teams and groups. But Fabio has got everyone working together well and they spend time with him, he’s a warm and open personality, it’s fun to be with him and I think from a coaching standpoint, philosophically what he’s good at is what we want to do at Parma, so it's obvious it fits together. We’re going to be a club that’s going to play young players, we’re going to play fun soccer, hopefully we’re going to win and Fabio knows how to develop young players and takes a lot of pride and fulfilment from doing that. And so that key point about what he likes to do and what he’s good at fits obviously into our club’s strategy'.

THE FUTURE OF THE CLUB

'Well I think right now, I think our future on both the men’s and the women’s side is to grow what we’re doing you know, month by month, year by year. I mean I’m excited our Women’s team is undefeated, hasn’t given up a goal all year, first place in the league, it feels good for the future in what we want to do and create that equity between the men’s and the women’s and for the men’s side it’s to continue to grow in what we’re doing and as I mentioned, as you gain an introduction look forward to playing in Europe again, but ultimately, that’s step by step'.

AN INVITATION TO PARMA FOR CAITLIN CLARK

'Kyle, last time we had you on you mentioned your connection with Caitlin Clark and that your daughter played Soccer with her. So, I’m wondering if you had any plans to get her to a Parma match and if she needs any extra security then Alexis and I would be totally happy to oblige and help you out, I’m just throwing that out there'.