THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[AS Collie]

bojan's italian is very good for someone who's only been here a couple of months! Suspiciously good. Could that be – shock – a stunt orchestrated by an agent or a handler from within the club?

[DonSimon]

[maro]

To be fair to Bojan, I think he probably made one more save than Steak did on Sunday. Perhaps LE should give them a run in each other's position? Just to mix it up.

[AS Collie]

I know several Spanish people here who would struggle to write such a letter, and they've been here a lot longer. Perhaps he used google translate.

Maybe I'm just being a cynic because I work in the media and I'm used to being force-fed this shit, but I don't believe that the letter was written by Bojan. I'm sure he read it, but I don't believe he wrote it. Anyway, even if he did write it, it's just bullshit platitudes. Less time "writing" letters, more time practising to score effing goals.

[red]

[RomaShield27]

[AS Collie]

Arsenal had a similar problem a few years back. Passing became the point, rather than the method. Personally, I don't think the forwards have been greedy enough, which is normally a good thing, but in this extreme it's bad. They seem more focused on pleasing the coach by showing how generous they are with the ball.

As team line-ups and tactics become more intricate and nuanced, several clubs are dealing/have dealt with this problem across Europe. I'd like to see Borriello given a decent run up front with this new system behind him.

With regard to the letter, I've just been speaking to a spanish friend of mine who works here and he says there's no way anyone could write like this after a couple of months without serious help. Too many mother-tongue phrases and verbs that don't match up to the Spanish at all. Which doesn't surprise me, considering most footballers struggle to write in their own language (just ask any of the thousands of people putting bread on the table as ghost-writers). It's just PR bullshit.

[DonSimon]

Just because PR bullshitters wrote the final draft doesn't mean Bojan had nothing to do with the original letter. Even if an Italian player wanted to make a statement to the public the PRs would go over it and edit it before getting approval from their PR manager. When it comes to making statements, clubs try to stop players from communicating directly to anyone outside the organisation, especially when it's written. So the fact that Bojan couldn't have written the letter as it stands doesn't prove anything with regard to his intentions.

[AS Collie]

DonSimon, I'm not arguing with you. And I'm aware of how a PR machine works – I deal with PR people, agents and handlers quite regularly. I'm just saying that the letter is irrelevant.

As for his intentions, well it seems to be that his main intention is to tell everyone - as he's done several times already - that he chose Roma over other suitors and that he doesn't want to be called a boy. To which, my personal response as a fan is: Bojan, I don't care that you chose Roma when others wanted you (and I really hope that you're not expecting me to be fucking grateful), and people will call you whatever they want, so stop crying like a little boy and man the fuck up.

[DonSimon]

Well put. My intention wasn't to argue either. My guess would be that he was told to say something mainly because of the way he threw the shirt to the ground. I agree that him saying "I could have gone to Chelsea, Tottenham or PSG" is utterly beside the point - if he'd been as wasteful with chances at any of those clubs then been red-carded in a similar manner and thrown that team's shirt on the ground, then many of those fans would be saying unpalatable things about him too. A quick "sorry for the stupid error, and I really didn't mean to disrespect the shirt" would have sufficed. Now the only answer is scoring goals when he starts playing again.

[AS Collie]

Agreed. They should all shut up and score more goals.

There was good banter on Sky between Spal and Ancelotti. Saw it again here. I like Ancelotti a lot; he seems like a funny guy. I read an interview with him a while ago and he was panning Parma because he says the city's full of sneaky bastards. Says they stole the famous Parmigiano cheese from his town (which is nearby). But I suppose he would say that

[Italiamia]

[maro]

Word on the street in Rome is that Bojan wrote the letter as part of his Italian homework and his teacher was so pleased with his progress she asked the club to publish it. Make of that what you will.

[DCGweez]

There is a troubling movement on this board. People are presenting opinions as facts. Not only that but they are giving no reasoning on why they have such opinions.

If you have an opinion please state it that way. Also, giving any sort of reasoning behind why you THINK it would be helpful.

[maro]

[AS Collie]

[Italiamia]

[maro]

I thought it was?

[DCGweez]

Collie,

I could do it, but I'm trying to make a point without getting into a pissing contest with anyone. I think it's pretty apparent. There have been quite a few posts recently about what is going on behind those closed doors and within the locker room. These posts aren't exactly presented with any caveats and/or references.

For me frankly I stop reading them immediately and dismiss them as sophomoric rants. This is the one board that up until now, i've been interested in reading each post.

That's because each one tended to be well thought out and purposeful or at the very least funny.

[Italiamia]