THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[stefano]

[Carlo Romano]

Maybe we're being unkind...married couples don't just go into the kitchen to prepare a meal!

[Deini]

Maybe some are right that Mexes will only renew his contract so Roma can ask an higher fee. And with the soap opera between Roma and Inter for Burdisso.. How long is that gonna take?

That really Totti? That ritiro in Brunico looks like they are having fun. Bring on the new season.

[maro]

[Deini]

[RomaShield27]

[ASR1927]

Well I know it's goal.com but it looks like Mexes may be staying! Seems he doesn't want to leave Roma. Loyalty that can't be bought. Deini it mentions the Baptista sale as well. They say 6 million. I'l take it.

Yeah Ed Rube in Tallaght! That ought to be good! They can score some drugs on the upper deck of the 77 bus!


Philippe Mexes Nearing Roma Stay; Julio Baptista Heading Towards Olympiacos - Reports

Roma defender Philippe Mexes is ready to pen a new deal with the club after opting to stay amid reports he was not short of offers.

Having said no to Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg came to the fore for the Frenchman whose lack of game time last year led to belief his time in the eternal city was up.

However, his agent Olivier Joaunneaux has confirmed a stay in Rome is most likely.

"Philippe doesn't see football as a business," the agent told Sportmediaset.it.

"If he thought about the money then he would have already left. This is why everything is ok with Roma. He would only leave under exceptional circumstances. The renewal will arrive."

Tuttomercatoweb.com reports Mexes' deal could be wrapped up by next week, but details over the agreement have not come to light. The u-turn comes at a time when Roma are still battling with Inter over a permament deal for Nicolas Burdisso.

Meanwhile, Brazilian striker Julio Baptista is weighing up his future following the arrival of Adriano.

He has been linked with Greek side Olympiacos, who are prepared to offer up to €6 million for his services.

But Sky Sport Italia reports a number of Spanish sides including Real Zaragoza and Almeria have looked at the hitman, but the Olympiacos deal seems at an advanced stage with his Italian agent Alessandro Lucci having reportedly just come back from Greece.

[Carlo Romano]

Our next friendly is tomorrow Sat.Jul.24, against Alto Adige in Brunico. I don't have an exact kick off time but since it is an evening game it will probably be between 20:00-21:00 CET. The Roma Uno Ch will show the game live.

Alto Adige, having just won the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione A, the modern equivalent of what once was Serie C2(A), will play this season in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione A, formerly Serie C1(A).

I must confess, this again being modest opposition for our lupi, I was more interested in the history of the area they are based in, the extreme north of Italy and not as its name might easily suggest to those who aren't too familiar with Italian geography, the Italian region of south east Switzerland.

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol is an autonomous region in Northern Italy. It consists of two provinces: Trento and Bolzano-Bozen. The region was part of Austria-Hungary (and its predecessor, the Austrian Empire) from 1389 until its annexation by Italy in 1919. Together with the Austrian state of Tyrol it is represented by the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino. The main language groups are Italian (about 60% of the total) and German speakers (a little under 35%), with a small minority speaking Ladin (5%).

These guys won't just be the absolute skidmarks of the Riscone team we played some days ago, but let's be honest, if our lads' heads are together we ought to win easily enough. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing who il mister plays and just what they do. If we see Cicinho again, that might be taken as a sign we intend to keep him after all.

[maro]

Carlo, I suspect anyone who's a wine-drinker will have a fair idea of where Alto Adige is.

[Carlo Romano]

Absolutely!

But the real point of the post won't have escaped you, struggling to find something worthwhile to say about this...whatever it will be with Alto Adige.

[maro]

I think some of the very loveliest Italian wine I've drunk has been from the Alto Adige. Let's hope Ranieri gets to enjoy a glass or two contentedly after the match. How's that? If we are going to play 4-3-3 and Adriano starts as one of the wide players, then if Cerci isn't given a chance because he doesn't offer enough defensively I may have to extract Claudio's entrails with a cake-fork.

[Italiamia]

I suspect Tommaso that you drink mostly white wine. The Alto Adige in the Germanized north produces the best whites in Italy. I rarely drink whites because most have limited range and complexity. However, the wines of the Alto Adige cannot be described in that manner. But you would not catch me drinking Pinot Grigio from there, or anywhere else in Italy. I would look for a Pinot Bianco from Alois Lageder or Giorgio Grai. Since I have become closed minded to Pinot Grigio, the Savignon Blanc coming out of this region is sublime. San Michele is a producer that comes to mind. The Pinot Noir coming out of this region is the best in Italy but they are very hard to find abroad. There is also some good Cabernet.

For me, there is the personal aspect of drinking wine produced by Nazi/Teutons who advocate dividing the country in half. Then there is the imbecilic Umberto Bossi, whose fascist Lega Nord is the dominant political party up there. So it has become increasingly difficult for me to financially support the region.

[pocari_fenrir]

[Carlo Romano]

Nice post, Pocari.

Clearly, Burdisso sees himself as our "back line" captain, always looking to keep it organised. He is very much a "take charge" figure, always shouting instructions to his team mates. We very much need that, we haven't had that at the back for years. If we sell Baptista to the Greeks, then we can give, as I said a few posts ago, those bloodsuckers in Milano the money they demand for him.

Right now Mexes is making a big thing of his loyalty to Roma in the hope our management may yet decide not to sell him. It does not however change the fact that that as you say, "he needs motivation and his defensive lapses eclipse that of Juan's." I myself have made those same criticisms of him except I add: against the big clubs, when under pressure, that is where he tends to make his biggest gaffes...

...and Juan certainly had an off-day against Samp, could hardly have picked a worse time to, the way things turned out.


But look for Cicinho in today's friendly against Alto Adige. He played a good part of the farcical 13-0 with Riscone di Brunico some days ago.

[Carlo Romano]

[quote]


Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio believes his side can make another jump in class this season and win the Scudetto.

The Giallorossi finished second last year after throwing away their lead at the top of Serie A.

However, Roma are optimistic about their chances this year, especially after the arrivals of Adriano and Fabio Simplicio.

“In my opinion, a strong team is being born with important players, a mature team that can do well,â€

[Carlo Romano]

I have to presume there were no internet feeds and links since the match was not covered by a major tv channel or others would have been on the Shoutbox with me. So I have posted these re-sized screenprints because the Roma match comments will be lost on the Shoutbox later this evening in favour of less impotant topics!!!

I haven't time now to post more so these prints will have to do. As I type, Ranieri is having to fend off comments in his post match interview like my thoughts on "could do better!" He is making excuses that Juan, De Rossi, Pizarro, etc were not playing...

[Carlo Romano]

...and the second half.




We will see what happens in next week end's friendly!

[RomaShield27]

Good stuff Carlo. Here's RomaNews piece from todays friendly with pics and line-ups. No highlights yet (except for Cici playing, naturally. Errr...)

http://www.romanews.eu/news.asp?newsID=65&pag=131

[pocari_fenrir]

[loazzi]