THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[AS Collie]

So ...

De Sanctis, Maicon, Benatia, Castan, Balzaretti, Pjanic, DDR, Strootman, Florenzi/Gerv, Ljajic, Totti/Destro.

?

I suppose it's nice enough. If Ljajic, Pjanic and Destro have good seasons it could be very nice.

[maro]

Sabre did make something like 15 mil out of Lamela, Collie - or seems likely to. That's not a terrible return, even if it's not quite what he kept promising. Now if we'd picked up uncle Alvarez instead. On paper that 11 looks better than we looked at the beginning of last season - but then who'd a-thunk Marquinhos would perform quite so exceptionally? It will be interesting to see if Dodo comes of age a little bit this season - it looks like he should have a much better defensive structure to play within which ought to help him. I shan't be entirely surprised if we see a bit of him again as the left-wing-forward.

I suppose the really critical thing is that Sabre doesn't pull another elephant out of his arse and try to offload De Rossi or Pjanic now. One could hardly be too surprised.

[maro]

Strootman-Ljajic-Astori: Galliani beffato ancora, Roma batte Milan 3-0
28 agosto alle 11:30

C'era una volta il grande Milan. In campo e sul mercato. Da qualche anno la musica è cambiata, la famiglia Berlusconi ha chiuso i rubinetti, Galliani è costretto a fare mercato con giocatori low cost, con affari dell'ultimo minuto, o con i soldi delle cessioni, e solo grazie alla sua esperienza e alle sue doti di manager di prima fascia, è riuscito a centrare dei colpi, vedi Balotelli, e a tenere il Milan competitivo. Impossibile in nothing, recitava un celebre sport, ma nel calciomercato non è sempre così. Se non hai soldi non puoi trattare i grandi giocatori. Semplice, lineare. E in quest'estate il Milan se n'è accorto una volta di più.

E così Galliani, per due volte, è stato superato dalla Roma, che fino a qualche tempo fa non aveva la forza economica rossonera. L'ad del Milan ha trattatato Strootman, ma non ha potuto ingaggiarlo, come confessato alla stampa: "Lo avremmo preso noi, ma 20 milioni sono troppi in questo momento per il Milan". Troppi anche 12 milioni di euro per Ljajic, obiettivo rossonero che la Firoentina ha ceduto alla Roma, dopo che il Milan aveva proposto 8 milioni di euro pagabili in 4 anni, cercando di raggiungere prima l'accordo con il serbo. Le sconfitte non sono finite qui, Sabatini sta superando Galliani anche nella corsa ad un centrale di difesa: Sakho e Astori, obiettivi del Milan, per cui la Roma offre di più.Ancora una volta.

[AS Collie]

[maro]

That seems to me a pretty skewed argument.

[AS Collie]

[DCGweez]

Astori is a player still living off rep he had a youth. He's a walking red card and pk. I think even Steck, while serving his red card bans, would sit on the sideline and ponder how Astori managed to give away so many PKs.

[AS Collie]

[maro]

Seriously, Collie? First, your maths makes no sense at all - the club will have made somewhere between 15 and 20 mil on Lamela. The fee spent on Ljajic is quite irrelevant to that; indeed, your maths would only make sense were Ljajic now suddenly worth 0 euros and even were that the case it would have little bearing on the Lamela case per se. Secondly, Lamela is only worth more now than he was two years ago because he's been one of our better contributors for the past two seasons. Quite clearly he's been contributing usefully in the interim so it's not as though the money made is simply compensation for having had to carry a dead-weight for two seasons. And, thirdly, I quite agree that gambling 15 mil on a South American kid who doesn't come off would be a terrible mistake and were Sabre's record hit-and-miss to the extent that money made on a Lamela were always counterbalanced by money lost on another such kid, then that would seem to me a very poor net result. Given that Lamela did come off, it hardly makes sense, though, to hold against Sabre that he might not have.

Do you really need me to spell out these counter-arguments for you?

[DCGweez]

[maro]

[DCGweez]

You both make some fair points. I totally disagree that you can't link Lamela and Ljajic. Is there any question that Ljajic is Lamela's replacement? Is there any doubt that the Lamela deal was held up until the Ljajic deal was signed and delivered?

Does this mean that Lamela money coudln't go towards Ljajic AND a CF or CD? Of course not, but it's fair to link the two.

[maro]

[DCGweez]

[DCGweez]

I have a question and a comment.

Does anyone think that Lamela becomes a world class player, as in a World 11 type player? It's strange how the "pros" are in love with the guy but Roma fans are a bit more tepid.

...my comment kind of ties in with that. Did you see the reception OT gave Rooney? Can you imagine that in Italy? It's a shame our fans don't get behind our players. Guys like Pjanic who says all the right things is still treated like shit. It saddens me.

[AS Collie]

[AS Collie]

[AS Collie]

Respect.

NAPOLI - Clamoroso: il Napoli chiede i danni per Higuain. Dopo l'infortunio al volto dell'attaccante argentino, caduto dalla barca a Capri e procuratori un taglio al volto per il quale sono stati necessari dieci punti di sutura, il club azzurro sbotta e attraverso il suo presidente: «Appena ho visto le foto di Higuain ho subito detto ai miei avvocati: facciamo causa al Comune di Capri e alla Regione Campania, chiediamo 100 milioni di danni che poi devolveremo in beneficenza. I politici devono avere una lezione perchè sono stanco del fatto che non abbiamo presidi medici di livello. A Capri può arrivare un calciatore, un attore, ma anche un turista qualsiasi, avere un incidente come quello capitato ieri: va in ospedale dove non gli sanno mettere i punti. Ma il sindaco di Capri che ci sta a fare, il presidente della Regione che ci sta a fare se non riesce a coltivare una perla come Capri? A Capri può arrivare una barca con a bordo persone da miliardi di dollari e se succede qualcosa del genere che figura facciamo? Ma nemmeno in Africa avviene questo».

[maro]

Condescending? Gesu'. It seems you can't take disagreement as anything other than a personal slight. I think the arguments you posted above made no sense at all and those are the reasons I think this. You're welcome not to agree with me, but don't give me this bullshit about condescension. If you could already see the counter-arguments - as I imagined you could - then why ask me to lay them out for you in the first place? This, it seems to me, is a fair argument: "My point, which I need to constantly parrot because it seems to have been conveniently ignored in favour of pursuing a more simple black-and-white discussion, is that I don't think it's worthwhile for a club to gamble on a young player if they're not going to profit from him greatly on the pitch in the long term. The 15 million spent on Lamela two seasons ago could have been spent on a more instantly-serviceable, experienced player who might have been able to affect the team's fortunes in a way that a south american teenager was not." The ones you posted above, laid out as they were, don't.

[DCGweez]

On the stadium stuff Collie, i read how Bari finished their overland Metro on monday. It was (and this is not a joke) commissioned in '87 for the WC in '90