THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[RomaShield27]

Totti Gunning for record recovery
– Saturday 3 January, 2009

Francesco Totti’s chances of facing Arsenal skyrocketed with the latest check-up confirming he’ll resume training in a fortnight. There were fears the Roma captain would miss out on the Champions League second round tie in February after he limped off with a right thigh strain during the 3-2 defeat at Catania.

“Compared to the previous check-up, we found a clear reduction of the lesion with the disappearance of the bruising,â€

[g.smiley]

Great news about er pupone. If he can be in good fitness come Cl, we'll get to see something sexy. Cesc Fabgas, on the other nut, aint gonna be makin any early comebacks. What a shame

Oh, and happy new year Roma and Romanistititi!

[RomaShield27]

Indeed, great to see Totti recovering well, lets hope he's fully fit sooner than expected. More on Totti's recovery below. Taddei, Aquilani, Pizarro and Panucci are also all back to full training:

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Notizi ... ma+riparte

Happy New Year to you too George.

Corriere dello Sport are predicting problems with the renewal of Vucinic's contract come June. I don't believe he's likely to make such big demands but it will possibly raise the ugly problem of the salary 'cap' once again.

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Notizi ... euro+a+gol

And Ancelotti said Beckham is more than likely to make his Milan debut against us next weekend, so it looks like we can expect the Becks media circus to be rolling into town. Should make it easier playing against 10 men too.

[stefano]

Easier against 10 men? Ha - Roma, remember.

[RomaShield27]

I was merely implying that Beckham is utter shite and not worth a wank anymore, Stevo.

[stefano]

Oh, I get it, but things that look easier tend to be more difficult. Becks is shit though. Still, how much money will Milan make off of Becks and Dinho shirt sales this season? My god...

[RomaShield27]

Not as much as we'll make from Vucinic shirt sales, ye boya. I myself have bought a dozen or so. Seriously, Totti also still sells as much gear as anyone.

[romawi]

Cicinho not interested in Chelsea
Sunday 4 January, 2009
Chelsea transfer target Cicinho has reassured fans that he has no intention of leaving Roma, although there is interest from Brazil too.

“Cicinho’s intention is to remain at Roma,â€

[Carlo Romano]

[aba_bab]

[maro]

[Kroo]

[RomaShield27]

[maro]

[RomaShield27]

You don't think there's too much difference between Artur and Curci, Don? Then why is it – if you are to believe the various reports – that we are presently pursuing a new backup 'keeper and are even strongly considering a 42-year-old to be a our vice-Doni? Artur was brought in, in effect, to replace Curci, to allow the young Roman a chance to make or break himself at a lower-league side, and in that regard you could say he has not exactly lived up to expectations. Curci has shown enough this season at Siena to make me believe he does have it in him to potentially go on to be our permanent number one, and even the Azzurri number one after Gigi moves on, and even though he has a good while to go yet to reach that stage, I still think you could consider him a lot better a goalie than Artur and I would be more confident calling on him rather than the Brazilian, regardless of if it meant he was a bit rusty from not playing as much as he is now in Tuscany. Picture this: Roma in London in late February, Doni brakes his mickey-bone over Cici's elbow in the pre-game warm up, so Artur's in the nets up against Adebayor and Van Persie. Or would you perhaps rather Curci...? My point was that our squad would be stronger with Curci sitting on the bench this season but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be a good move as he needs proper playing time to develop, but in the meantime we're still stuck trying to sort out a proper backup goalkeeper halfway through the season when it should of been done in pre-season (lets just buy Shay Given for €7m and be done with it). It comes across as incompetent management, and you could argue the same for Andreolli or Barusso or Cerci. We still need a new goalkeeper and a new centre-half because the players we brought in for those roles in the summer are not up to scratch, and because we don't have the money to spend we should be more careful in how we use our own homegrown talent and use them more wisely instead of picking up older, cheaper alternatives.

RomaNews are reporting that the Corriere dello Sport are reporting that some bloke-who-was-bored-so-made-something-up is reporting that we are interested in Nilmar and have even sent a representative to Braziland to make enquiries. Its complicated though (would make a good fit for us then) because his contract is half-owned by second and third parties and all that shite (like Tevez).

http://www.romanews.eu/news.asp?newsID=10161&pag=2

[maro]

I would prefer Curci coming off a run of twenty games in the nets (where he's at now) to Artur coming off a run of twenty games on the bench (where he's at now). Curci coming off twenty games riding the pine or Artur on the same terms - I'd be pretty worried either way. Curci was terrible at times when called on over the past couple of seasons and a non-match-fit Curci would fill me with barely more confidence than a non-match-fit Artur. This, presumably, is why we're also looking at a much older back-up - someone with the experience and maturity to be about as good with or without a run of games behind him. That makes perfect sense to me; your comparison, though, is all apples and oranges and not in the way you mean, Edzo. I don't think our squad would e much stronger at all with Curci sitting on the bench this season.

As for incompetence, not so much. Loria may have disappointed Spags, I don't know, but he was a much more sensible option than holding on to Andreolli or asking a young kid to fill that role. That makes perfect sense to me. Personally, I don't think we do need a new centre-half or a new 'keeper in January.

Using your homegrown talent more wisely also means developing them and allowing them to develop and at times that's got to mean letting them go out to other pastures. You can't develop them all yourself while still trying to compete for honours in the top competitions.

[maro]

It would be more of a slight to Artur were we pursuing another 26-year-old rather than a 42-year-old. That suggests we're as much after something different as something better. On the other hand, that the club is always on the look out for ways to improve the squad is hardly a sign of incompetence. Perhaps it's a mark that not everything has worked out quite as anticipated, but that's always going to happen.

[RomaShield27]

I get what your saying, experience is key. Experience for a promising young player to get the chance at some regular game time at another club and the experience a more senior keeper could bring to the table. Still, if we are to do a direct comparison, I have to say I would be a lot more comfortable having a "non-match-fit" Curci as opposed to a "non-match-fit" Artur in a crucial game like the first-leg in London. You speak as if Curci is some raw kid fresh of the primavera kiddies merry-go-round. He is 23-years of age now and has made a good few appearances for us over the last few seasons, as well as for the Azzurrini, and while he would obviously not be as fresh riding the pine as he would playing regular football, he has still shown he can do a job when called upon. Remember last seasons CL group stage fixture in Old Trafford? He had quite a good game there. I don't know if I'd be as confident with Artur or Fontana, even, for such a match.

I think its pretty clear Spalletti has no confidence in Loria anymore, particularly since Spalletti choose not to call upon him in the defeat away to Siena even though both our starting centre-halfs had been sent-off and De Rossi moved back into the defence instead of bringing Loria on. He has only made a handful of appearances since that game when was taken off at half-time against Udinese and is only going to be a liability if he does make the pitch again in a game that matters. With Panucci edging more toward the wheelchair and Juan hopping along after him, I think we most certainly need a new centre-half in January.

[maro]

He played DDR at the back against Siena because we had to try and get back into the game and so he had us playing with a ridiculously high line - trying to play offside along the halfway line as a way of allowing the fullbacks to get forward in an attempt to sit Siena right back as deep as we could possibly manage. It didn't, of course, work, but that was a decision based on pace rather than on a lack of confidence in anyone. He might have tried Esposito there had he still been around. Early in the season we were all over the place and it left our centrebacks very exposed 1-on-1 against attackers. If that attacker has any pace, then that's not going to suit Loria. In a properly organised, compact defence, he'll do all right - if we collapse in the middle and let the attackers have the wide spaces, Loria will sweep things up tidily enough. On the other hand, if he's playing alongside Cicinho and Cicinho gets caught miles up the pitch and Loria has to go chasing a player like Lavezzi into the channels, it's not going to be pretty. But then getting Pizarro to mark Vieira on corners wouldn't be too smart either.

[pocari_fenrir]

rumours are flying today. we're linked to new names and re-linked to some players. Bucci (Parma), Savio Nsereko (Brescia), Nilmar (Internacional) and Abate (Torino). Podolski rumours are getting hotter as well as whispers of Napoli swooping for Pizarro.

Fontana is most likely going to Parma so the Bucci rumours popped up because he's already a free agent or so. Bucci wants to return to Serie A to hit 300 appearances blah blah blah, i dont see it happening until we offload Artur. i dont quite like the Nsereko and Abate links when we still have potential players like Faty, Barusso, Rosi, Cerci and Pit (LOL) floating about. the Nilmar links are probably because Maro is begging for Cicinho to leave. same could go for the heated Podolski rumours and Pizarro whispers... all Maro's fault.

also Lazio, think they can beat us with the signing Dubarbier from Cluj