Lega Serie A – General Discussion

[RomaShield27]

[oily]

[RomaShield27]

Toro Target Denis Looks To Emulate Batistuta

Argentine rising star German Denis wants to do for Torino what his compatriot Gabriel Batistuta did for Fiorentina. The Independiente ace was close to becoming a Toro in January, only for the move to fall apart because of financials. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old still has his heart set on a move to Turin.

“In January, the transfer was delayed by a small sum of money, but I was seduced by Toro and I hope that they sign me in the summer,â€

[RomaShield27]

Fiorentina move for Melo
Friday 14 March, 2008

Fiorentina are set to complete a major swoop for Brazilian midfield star Felipe Melo from Spanish side Almeria. The 24-year-old is regarded as a huge talent for the future and was also a target for Lazio, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Fiorentina seem to have secured his signature by acting first and are ready to pay around £10m for a man who has played 24 games this season and found the net four times.

“I am very happy with the way that my career is going,â€

[RomaShield27]

Ederson: Italy after Lyon
Tuesday 18 March, 2008

Brazilian midfield star Ederson is hoping that a summer switch to Lyon will edge him closer to a dream move to Serie A. The 22-year-old is currently plying his trade for Ligue 1 side Nice and is one of the hottest properties in France.

Ederson has already agreed to join French champions Lyon at the end of the season, but his heart is set on playing in Serie A.

“My agents told me that Inter asked about me two years ago and Juventus have shown an interest,â€

[Messinterista]

[quote="RomaShield27"]Ederson: Italy after Lyon
Tuesday 18 March, 2008

Brazilian midfield star Ederson is hoping that a summer switch to Lyon will edge him closer to a dream move to Serie A. The 22-year-old is currently plying his trade for Ligue 1 side Nice and is one of the hottest properties in France.

Ederson has already agreed to join French champions Lyon at the end of the season, but his heart is set on playing in Serie A.

“My agents told me that Inter asked about me two years ago and Juventus have shown an interest,â€

[RomaShield27]

Napoli swoop for duo – Maggio and Denis join Serie A side
www.skysports.com – Last updated: 11th June 2008

Napoli have strengthened their squad with the signings of Christian Maggio and German Denis. Maggio arrives on a five-year deal from Sampdoria to end months of speculation about his future. The midfielder, who has also played for Fiorentina, is delighted to be joining Edoardo Reja's ambitious side.

"I'm happy to be able to play for such a prestigious club and I'm looking forward to the start the season," Maggio told the Italian press.

Napoli have also agreed a deal with Independiente for 26-year-old striker Denis. Known as 'The Tank', Denis has an impressive goalscoring record and was a member of the Argentina squad for their first two World Cup qualifiers at the end of last year.

The transfer is expected to be finalised before the end of the week with Napoli set to pay Independiente around £9million for his services.

[Carlo Romano]

2 major and worthwhile talking points you guys made in this old thread...

Firstly, I liked the almost cut-throat old format of 18 teams + a 4 up/down promotion and relegation arrangement with Serie B. It worked! Change is most often for the better. But not in this case in my opinion for the reasons already given in the above posts of player burnout and less promotion places. The only purposeful alteration to the old set-up was increasing the 2 points for a victory to 3 which has almost eliminated the once infamous Italian draws via unspoken arrangement during a match!

Secondly, on dealing with falling attendances, it could be claimed that rising violence and high ticket prices are certainly contributory factors but even if we bypass these first two issues for another discussion, it's the opinion of many that it is considerably cheaper to watch on tv as both PPV and subscriptions are far more reasonably priced in Italy than for example in rip-off Britain because Sky Italia has to compete with digital terrestrial services from Mediaset and La 7 (Rai has 10 years since lost the rights to broadcast live Serie A/B except for overseas viewing)

Even amongst fans of Italy's seven sisters, Milan, Inter, Juve, Roma, La Viola, Lazio, and Palermo, (who have replaced Parma) not everyone is able to afford to pay twice a week for tickets for a large part of the season.

[tonykart]

ATALANTA, Tomorrow Cigarini sign

Agreement between Atalanta and Parma was still found, Cigarini must say only yes. In the late yesterday evening the midfielder has answered definitively accepting to transfer. Tomorrow morning the footballer will sign a contract with the society of Atalanta. Have been spent 5 millions for the co-ownership.
____________________________________

This is good for Cigarini's development.

[tonykart]

Calcio Debate: Is Rosina Destroying His Career At Torino?

Torino star Alessandro Rosina today launched a furious attack at his chairman Urbano Cairo, threatening to leave the club unless some exciting signings were made. Carlo Garganese asks whether the hugely talented Rosina is wasting his career away at the Granata…

If there is one type of player that Italy were dreadfully lacking at Euro 2008, it was a skilful, creative, and pacy attacking midfielder with the ability to take on opponents, open up the space, stretch the play, and cause damage in the final third of the field.

Torino’s Alessandro Rosina is a player who, when on form, ticks all these boxes. When I was asked prior to the Euros who I would choose in my 23-man Italy squad, I selected Rosina, even though I knew fully well that there was not a cat in hell’s chance of Roberto Donadoni taking him to Austria and Switzerland.

Rosina is now 24, yet he has only won one cap for the Azzurri, in a 2-0 friendly win against South Africa last October. Despite Cristiano Lucarelli’s brace, Rosina was the undoubted man-of-the-match, as he caused havoc almost every time he touched the ball.

So why, despite such an impressive debut performance, has Rosina never been capped again since?

The only possible explanation can be the fact that he plays for Torino, a club who despite their tradition and history, are no longer regarded as one of the big boys of Serie A.

Rosina has been a revelation since arriving in Turin in 2005. In his debut season he was the driving force behind their promotion to Serie A, scoring 12 goals in 42 games. In both of the last two years, it would not be unfair to say that he has almost single-handedly dragged the Granata to survival, scoring 17 goals and providing countless assists.

Such has been his brilliance that Rosina has been linked to every one of the Italian big boys, excluding of course Juventus. Roma have been the team most associated with making a move. However Rosina, who is nicknamed ‘Rosinaldo’ due to his Brazilian-style flair, has always stayed loyal to Il Toro, and indeed last season signed a contract extension until 2011.

It has become evidently clear, through this summer’s transfer campaign, that there is little hope under the current owners, of Torino rolling back to the pre-1990 years and challenging for honours.

Rosina has a simple choice to make. If he wants to fulfil his career he has to leave. He will win no club trophies, and his international prospects will also be in serious jeopardy. On the other hand, he can stay and become a club legend, a little like Matt Le Tissier, who turned down the advances of big clubs to spend his whole career at little Southampton. Le Tissier was quite possibly the most talented English player of his generation, yet he only earned eight caps for his country, and won nothing for his club.

Loyalty in the modern game is fast disappearing, and a player like Le Tissier can only be commended given the way money is now destroying football’s soul. Having said this though, it will be a shame if Rosina never has the opportunity to grace the grandest stages during his career.

[Amedio]

Calcio fans shouldn't trust the managements of their clubs anymore, as they're really destroying the Italian football by them preferring foreign players to Italian players and youngsters. What a shame!

And one thing, Italy has so may talents in every single position on the pitch, but some shortsighted clubs have something against Italian talents.

[tonykart]

Ahmed... I agree 100% Great post.

[RomaShield27]

Infront appointed exclusive media rights advisor of Lega Calcio
www.eufootball.biz – Italy – 18 July, 2008

The Italian Lega Calcio (Lega Nazionale Professionisti), the governing body of the Italian professional football leagues, has appointed Infront Sports & Media as its exclusive advisor in exploiting the national and international media rights for all its properties including Serie A, starting from the 2010/11 season, for six seasons.

On Tuesday, this decision was unanimously ratified by the League’s assembly. The company will consult Lega Calcio in centralising the distribution and marketing of audiovisual rights. Italy’s Serie A is one of the biggest and most popular football leagues in the world.

Antonio Matarrese, President of Lega Calcio, commented: "This is an historic agreement for us, the beginning of a new era for Italian football. The Lega’s Assembly is to be congratulated on its careful analysis of the various highly competitive proposals. All the clubs agreed that the Infront offer not only provides strong financial guarantees but also best meets the needs of both Serie A and B and the interests of Italian football as a whole. As in a good marriage, we looking forward to building a relationship with Infront based on mutual trust, respect, loyalty and shared objectives and working with Infront Italy’s President Marco Bogarelli, Andrea Locatelli and Philippe Blatter and their experienced support teams."

Marco Bogarelli, Member of Infront’s Board of Directors and President of Infront Italy, said: "We are delighted with this result, which we see as recognition of our long experience in the management of media rights to major sports properties, both in Italy and on a worldwide basis."

Infront’s President and CEO, Philippe Blatter, added: "We are very happy that our proposal to the Lega Calcio has been fully accepted by all delegates of the League’s Assembly. This appointment is a major expansion of the Infront Group’s current business portfolio and we will combine all our comprehensive media and consulting capabilities to meet this exciting challenge."

[Bagg10]

Any idea when the schedule for next season is going to made shield?

[RomaShield27]

I think its the 1st of August, not fully sure though.

[Bagg10]

No derbies in midweek rounds
Friday 18 July, 2008
The 2008-09 Serie A calendar will be drawn up on July 25 and big matches kept out of midweek rounds.

The season kicks off on the weekend of August 31 and concludes on May 31, 2009. There will be three midweek rounds on September 24, October 29 and January 28.

However, the Lega Calcio have announced they will set certain parameters on the computer programme making the draw.

This will keep big games away from these midweek rounds, including derbies, and also ensure no clashes occur in cities with other important events on the same day, such as concerts or carnivals.

The draw for the Serie A season will be made at the CONI headquarters at 16.30 UK time on Friday July 25.

Meanwhile, the Lega Calcio also confirmed the nine clubs who have failed to meet the financial requirements needed to register for the new season.

They are Messina, Spezia, Castelnuovo Garfagnana, Lucchese, Massese, Martina, Nuorese, Teramo and Torres Sassari.

[tonykart]

[tonykart]

Messina's collapse is complete

Messina have disappeared from football after failing to secure a place in Serie C2 following their financial collapse.

The Sicilian outfit only dropped out of Serie A in the summer of 2007 after finishing 20th.

But the Biancoscudati disintegrated quickly as they suffered severe financial problems during last season’s mid-table Serie B finish.

Despite an impressive start to the campaign, the public were apathetic to Messina’s cause and attendances were low.

The level of accumulated debt proved too great for the owning Franza family and the Peloritani were officially excluded from the Second Division on July 14.

With no other investors willing to come forward, Messina had to accept their relegation to Serie C, but they also failed to find the capital to meet the deadline for entries to Serie C2.

Messina will have to start life again from the amateur ranks of Serie D, just as they did in 1993-94 when they last failed to enter Serie C.

[Amedio]

That's a sad story. I'm really sorry for Messina.

[Messinterista]