THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[Carlo Romano]

Yes, Jamil, the precious 3 points!

You know, we really should have won this match much more comfortably. Without singling anyone out, too much poor finishing, particularly in the first half. Pizarro might want to try different studs on his boots, losing his footing and also the ball which led to Adailton's goal!

Did anyone notice two things re/our presidente at the final whistle? The "Thank God" sigh of relief that we'd won, and also that she has adopted the mannerism of covering her mouth when she speaks?

Enzo Bearzot was the first Italian I saw doing that, back at the 1982 World Cup so he couldn't be lip-read on camera...

[Jamoldo]

My question is, what about injuries. Juan off at halftime. Menez and Motta had to be subbed for injury reasons. Mirko did not look too comfy etc. It must be the water/pitch at trigoria...

[Deini]

[RomaShield27]

Did anyone else realise Damiano Tommasi finally this weekend? RomaGiallorossa has a nice article on him:

http://www.romagiallorossa.com/?action= ... izia=14774

Here's to a legend and a great and sincere man both on and off the pitch, his kind is a dying breed in todays modern football:

[Carlo Romano]

Nice gesture, Ed...

Thinking back, it certainly seemed as if he didn't always get credit he was due. I can recall him coming on as a sub for both Italia and Roma when they were struggling and his presence put a spark of life back in the team! I hadn't realised he finished his career in China. The last I noticed was when he'd left QPR.

[Italiamia]

[RomaShield27]

– By Svend Frandsen – November 2, 2009

It's usually said that all roads lead to Rome, but at the moment all roads to success seem to lead away from Il Giallorossi - the Eternal City's pride and joy, AS Roma. It's a fact that has worked some of Italian football's most fanatical fans into a virtual frenzy.

On Friday night, the Roma players received a rude awakening. Angry supporters opted for a dramatic show of intent when they threw fireworks and a homemade explosive device - designed to make noise rather than do actual damage - into the Trigoria complex. The incident occurred at around midnight and woke the players, no doubt increasing the level of tension within the squad as they were preparing for Sunday's crucial home fixture against Bologna. Already at lunchtime, the supporters had previously signalled their dissatisfaction with the club when signs were hung on a fence reading "Shame on you" and "Rosella leave", referring to president Rosella Sensi, while hurling abuse, prompting coach Claudio Ranieri to cut the training session short after 45 minutes.

The dramatic incident at Trigoria was the latest sign of turmoil at a club which stands on the brink of a major crisis following only three wins in ten matches. Roma's financial situation had already caused concern during pre-season, with experts doubting if the club could match last season's sixth-place finish. And the concerns seem justified as Il Giallorossi, with only 11 matches played, find themselves in a hugely disappointing 14th spot in Serie A despite gaining a bit of confidence at the weekend with a 2-1 home win against Bologna. Sifting through the ruins of the early season, the club are still in the depths of financial woes which was left for Sensi to turn around after her father, Franco, died in August 2008 after leading the club for 15 years.

Sensi has admitted that interested parties have been in touch about a possible sale, with a consortium fronted by rich industrialists, the Flick family, ready to acquire a major stake in the club. The billionaire financer George Soros could have taken over last year for a snip, but having apparently predicted the current worldwide financial crisis, he decided to keep his readies closer to home. The calls for Sensi to finally leave the management of the club to new investors usually come from the hardcore section of the dreaded Roma Ultras, but the lack of respect for Sensi's abilities to steer Roma clear of a potential bankruptcy reached a new peak when Roma shareholders, during a meeting on Thursday, urged Sensi to resign.

"Today I officially demand Sensi's resignation and the nomination of a specialist of this sector who has known credibility," shareholder Claudio Rossi Massimi stated during the meeting. "I want the current owners to realise we are working with passion, not snacks. Lacking passion is a sin that cannot be absolved. We are the ones who buy the Roma product and have poured money into the stock market, for shares that have depreciated in value by 80 to 90%," added Massimi.

But in the midst of the storm, Sensi declared that she was not about to throw in the towel just yet. "I will not quit. We have to keep moving forward," Sensi told the shareholders, according to Corriere dello Sport. "We have to fight for the top four places and progress in the Europa League. We cannot deny we have earned credibility in Europe and the UEFA standings show this," said Sensi who also appealed to angry fans, suggesting protests would only destabilize the environment even further. "We need our fans behind us because we are still involved on three fronts. Football is like a family. You need to be together and stay close to the team," concluded the president.

Reportedly £250 million in debt and seemingly forever on the verge of financial meltdown, Roma's most significant summer market move was to sell talented midfielder Alberto Aquilani to Liverfekkin'wankscum. A 3-2 defeat away to Genoa on the opening day and a 3-1 home loss to Juventus also quickly convinced coach Luciano Spalletti to jump ship after otherwise having re-established Roma's reputation as the most attractive Italian side in the new millennium. Roma fans were soon to regret his departure as his successor, former Chelsea and Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri, had already made it clear that his team would be a lot more about "pragmatism" and less about "champagne" football.

Beside the financial woes, Roma's biggest problem has been a squad that lacks a genuine goalscoring centre-forward. Montenegrin Mirko Vucinic, one of last season's successes of the Champions League, has definitely reached the lowest point of his career in Rome, having scored only once since the demolition of Gent in the Europa League back in July.

At the same time, Brazilian international Julio Baptista is only just edging back towards full fitness after a lengthy injury spell. Baptista scored nine goals in 27 league appearances with the Giallorossi last season after joining the capital club from Real Madrid but injuries have limited the 28-year-old to just two league appearances this term

The biggest factor in the Roma crisis, however, seems to be the club's hopeless obsession with its ageing talisman captain, Francesco Totti, who is now 33. Indeed, without their icon and kingpin Roma are short of leadership, charisma and structure. Consequently Roma look to be heading for a difficult spell with the news that Totti last week underwent surgery and will be sidelined for a month. Logic denotes that as Totti grows even older, his visits to the team doctor will become even more frequent and Ranieri still seems short of a Plan B should the captain be unavailable. Totti himself is at a loss to explain the crisis.

"There isn't just one reason for what is happening to us at the moment," said Totti in La Gazzetta dello Sport. "We need to win and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I don't understand what is wrong. Since Spalletti, Ranieri has asked us to play after a more simple strategy but we still unable to put that advice into practise. It's unbelievable."

It shouldn't be forgotten that throughout the season, the Romans have had to battle with an extensive injury list and this has raised questions whether the medical staff really have got the necessary qualifications at a time where the ability to get players fit for action is playing an extremely crucial role. As such Aquilani, in the wake of his transfer to Liverfekkin'wankscum, slammed the treatment-table methods of Roma.

"I changed many doctors at Roma and there was never any consistency in the treatment to cure me. I have noted a big difference here [at Liverfekkin'wankscum]. From the first moment I was told I would not be rushed back into action to avoid further problems," he said in Il Corriere dello Sport. Aquilani was later backed up by old team-mate Antonio Cassano who in an extensive interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport revealed that "much could have been different in his career had he not been at the mercy of the AS Roma medical staff".

In more barbaric times, when the Roman Empire ruled most of the world, Rosella Sensi and Claudio Ranieri would by now already have been fed to the lions. Such methods are no longer in use despite frequent events which reveal that temperaments often flare in the Eternal City. But with AS Roma in imminent danger of falling into the relegation zone, Ranieri and Sensi could soon find themselves at the back of the unemployment line.

[Carlo Romano]

[maro]

dibdib, whatever happens from here, let it be recorded that at 11:13 GMT, Pakistan were 0/2 after 2.1 overs.

[maro]

I was quite struck by this story this morning:

Alberti:"Proporrò alla Roma il nuovo Tevez"

Jose Alberti, agente Fifa sudamericano, ha affermato di essere ad un passo dal portare un forte trequartista a Roma, sponda giallorossa. "Abbiamo in programma un incontro con la società giallorossa per parlare di questo giocatore, un calciatore di primissimo livello, rappresentato da Guillermo Coppola: è uno alla Tevez, titolare nella Nazionale Argentina e che in Italia, secondo me, potrà realizzare tra i 15 e i 18 gol a stagione...", le parole del manager a Radio Sei.

I was struck first of all because of its fokking absurdity. Is there any other club in the world around whom such a story would circulate? I'm going to bring to Roma a great young player. So great, indeed, is his promise, that I'm not going to name him because (I imagine) you won't have heard of him. We're not being linked with a specific, named, known player but with some fuzzy abstract bullshit.

On the other hand, I was also struck because how long has it been since the club sent out and bought a player who could excite the fans, give promise of a salto di qualita', as the Italians like to say? What an absurd idea that a brilliantly gifted player might come to the club without seven first-teamers departing to raise funds for the addition. Nothing new, then.

[RomaShield27]

So, the biggest game of our season – of any season – coming up, and no one's talking about it? I mean, we are facing team who have begun to dominate, started to really lay down their mark, and one who we've all come to strongly dislike, not to mention their arrogant, insufferable manager, we should really be getting ourselves charged up for this one. Yes, we're fortunate to be playing such a giant in Fulham FC on Thursday. Its one of the biggest games in the clubs history and a real honour to welcome such a well-know heavyweight to our stadium. Here's hoping we can be fully focussed and give them a good run for their money, and then we can rest the boys for that easy game we have on Sunday.

[ASR1927]

[Deini]

[Carlo Romano]

So we are back on the prayer mat yet again, Deini?

As regards the Fulham game, Brighi, Menez, and Tonetto are all passed as fit but Burdisso will probably be held in reserve for the week end.

All three of our goalkeepers...Julio Sergio, Lobont, and burro di dita trained as normal.

[Deini]

[RomaShield27]

Another piece on the latest Angelini business: http://www.romanews.eu/news.asp?newsID=1231&pag=66


TRIGORIA: MENEZ RIENTRA IN GRUPPO, BURDISSO TORNA CON L´INTER. PROBLEMI A UNA CAVIGLIA PER PIZARRO
– pubblicata mercoledì 4 novembre 2009

Allenamento di rifinitura per la Roma in vista della sfida col Fulham di domani sera. Le buone notizie per Ranieri arrivano da Menez, che oggi si allena regolarmente in gruppo. Stesso discorso per Brighi e Tonetto. Assenti dal campo Burdisso e Juan, si tenterà di recuperarli per la trasferta di Milano. Solo palestra per Totti. Problemi per Pizarro, che rimedia un colpo a una caviglia durante uno scontro di gioco. Nessun problema per il cileno che dopo le cure del caso rientra in campo. Il gruppo, dopo il consueto riscaldamento, effettua un richiamo atletico. A seguire lavoro sulla circolazione di palla. Poi Ranieri divide in due gruppi i suoi uomini. L'attacco prova alcui schemi offensivi, la difesa lavora sulle palle inattive.

PROSSIMA PARTITA: Roma-Fulham (Europa League, giovedì 5 novembre, ore 19)
INDISPONIBILI: Totti (lesione al menisco), Burdisso (contrattura al polpaccio), Juan (contrattura al polpaccio)
IN DUBBIO: Menez (affaticamento muscolare)

PROBABILE FORMAZIONE (4-4-2): Doni; Cassetti, Mexes, Andreolli, Riise; Taddei, De Rossi, Pizarro, Perrotta; Baptista, Vucinic.

BALLOTTAGGI: Baptista/Menz, Taddei/Cerci, Cassetti/Motta

Menez returned to full training today, as did Brighi and Tonetto. Burdisso and Juan didn't train and won't be called upon on Thursday, but will hopefully be back for Sunday's easy game. Pizarro suffered a knock to his ankle but he was able to carry on.

[RomaShield27]

AS Roma-Fulham FC: i convocati
– Giovedì, 05 novembre 2009, ore 19.00

2 CICERO JOAO DE CESARE (CICINHO)
3 MARCO ANDREOLLI
5 PHILIPPE MEXES
7 DAVID MARCELO CORTES PIZARRO
9 MIRKO VUCINIC
11 RODRIGO FERRANTE TADDEI
13 MARCO MOTTA
16 DANIELE DE ROSSI
17 JOHN ARNE RIISE
19 JULIO CESAR BAPTISTA
20 SIMONE PERROTTA
21 STEFANO GUBERTI
22 MAX TONETTO
24 ALESSIO CERCI
27 JULIO SERGIO BERTAGNOLI
32 DONIEBER ALEXANDER MARANGON (DONI)
33 MATTEO BRIGHI
77 MARCO CASSETTI
89 OKAKA CHUKA STEFANO
94 JEREMY MENEZ

[SPqR]

I'd go with this:

----------------------------Doni---------------------------
-Motta----------Mexes----------Andreolli---------Riise-
---------------Brighi---------------De Rossi--------------
---Guberti-----------------------------------Perrotta-----
-------------------Menez--------Vucinic------------------

[RomaShield27]

Good line up Vince, but fuckit it's only Fulham, I'd rest important players and give squad players like Cici, Max, Faty, Cerci and Okaka all starts. It's only fecking Fulham, we should be able to beat these muppets with the collective sweat off our sacks.

[Deini]

Sorry but this is a must win game for us if we want to qualify for the next round.