THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[AS Collie]

Great for Totti. Shame the stadium was almost empty.

I'm with you DC. With Zanzi & Co., I give it to October before one of 'em barges into the dressing room to call shots.

"Only one thing counts in this life. Get the ball over the line which is painted. You hear me you fuckin faggots? Fuck you, that's my name. Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you, go home and play with your kids."

[RomaShield27]

What is that you're quoting?

Surprised to hear the stadio was almost empty, and there wasn't a good atmosphere which you mentioned earlier. Seemed alright on TV, but of course its hard to tell. Thought there would have been more there to witness history.

[AS Collie]

Well there'll be more history to witness when he beats the record, I suppose.

I'm paraphrasing Glengarry, Glen Ross, edzo. As per the early reference to Ricky Roma.

[Italiamia]

I think your Irish countryman is just being creative, Edzo. The Olimpico did not seem 'almost empty'. Is that a bit of an exaggeration, Collucci?

[AS Collie]

Haha. Why would I exaggerate? Honestly. There was hardly anyone there. I read attendance was about 30,000, but it seemed like even less. Maybe they were all down at the concession stand enjoying the lovely X-Brand hot dogs. Oscar Mayer signs were all covered up. Might have been some nice horse dogs straight off the truck from Romania.

[Italiamia]

[AS Collie]

There were Oscar Meyer signs up in the vending areas, and they were selling hot dogs. I think I made some smart-arse remark about it shortly after the takeover. Now they've covered up the OM logo but are still selling the frankfurters, leading me to assume they've found a cheaper (more horse-contaminated) source of match-day sausage.

*Note from the editor: the horse remarks relate to a beef scandal currently playing out in the UK's grubby supermarkets.

[Italiamia]

[AS Collie]

[maro]

[AS Collie]

That's true. Wages are desperately low here for young people, I think the average in Italy for anyone in the 20-35 range is around the €1000 mark, with many working off-the-books as casual labour in bars and restaurants. When you consider a shirt with a name/number is around €100, it's not hard to see why few fans wear them.

A look at the Monte Mario seats illustrates the kind of fan those people want: rich tourists willing to spend big money on merch and games. I'm not against that kind of fan at all, because most of 'em will genuinely enjoy and cherish even the most tedious game as something unique and special to them, but you have to get the balance right.

I would like Roma to be an inclusive, welcoming club with a varied fanbase and a sound financial footing. But I don't want the latter at the expense of the former, or for it to be achieved by ignoring – or worse, pricing out – long-term fans in favour of the monied, plastic variety.

[maro]

Collie, I'm not sure most of the fans they're after would ever make it to Rome, let alone to the stadium. In DCG's terms they're the next set of fans who would be Manure or Plastic Madrid fans otherwise. Of course, you want enough fans in the stadium to make it look good and exciting on tv, but it's the global tv audience that they're really interested in capturing a bigger slice of. If some go so far as to make a trip to Rome, all the better, but in the end that's a lot of moolah 'wasted' on hotels and plane-tickets which could have been spent on another tracksuit and a scarf for the nephew.

[Italiamia]

Collucci, we never were big into merchandise to begin with. Italian fans do not usually wear a game shirt of their favorite player to matches. I have purchased some things over the years for myself and my kids but I'm not sure I would do that if I were still living in Roma full time. It's true, wages have been stagnant for decades in Italy but that is the product of an over-taxed and over regulated society with anitquated labour laws that impede economic growth.

Regardless, the game being what it is today, money is needed, and lots of it. If you want to obtain and retain good players in order to be competitive then what is a team like Roma to do. Again, I do not like going down the road from Mickey Mouse to frankfurters and chips, and the scones and latte crowd boils my blood. There are no easy solutions here for increasing revenues. Therefore, the anything goes mentality rules the day.

[red]

[DCGweez]

Maro, Right you are ref who they care about.

I was referring to what should be said. I think we're all too aware of what they'd like from Roma in the end. Profit.

I'm just left wondering about the timing and content of their sound bites from time to time.

When we lose it's Cruises and when we are in good form it's about becoming the worlds biggest club.

How about we have the highest table standing in our own City first. Then perhaps be the best team in the South. Then the best team in Italy At that point let's worry about having more fans in Asia than ManUre...

[AS Collie]

[AS Collie]

[AS Collie]

Look at the face on Mourinho.

[Italiamia]

[maro]

The trouble, of course, is that it's not simply that a more successful Roma would have more such fans but that having more such fans would also almost certainly make for a more successful Roma. The former is the perennial hipster's angst; the latter is the tawdry reality of sport-as-business.