THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi II

[Carlo Romano]

Jeff, interesting clip...cheers for that! Happier times! I remember his open play goal better as I loved the swerve he put on the shot! But quality nonetheless and that was much more like the real Totti! Beating Bari this coming Sunday ought to be no more than a formality and we unfortunately can't be singing anyone's praises over that, seeing as they are propping the rest of us up at the bottom...


Pocari, I have to confess I didn't know what Kirby's Epic Yarn was about and after reading Maldini's quip, I wasn't then even sure it was a video game as I had originally thought!

With the five hours bit, I envisioned a situation almost all men have been through in our lives, inviting a girl over that we are interested in, who wants to go down the sympathy and talk route over a problem they have, rather than do what we'd all rather she did!

Yeh a cynic! Heh heh! I'm worse than that, I'm at the point in my life where I know I can only take the direct approach of, "Are you gonna come across or what?" But you have to phrase it properly...

...then again, dealing with women of my age group, they are in the same boat as me and wouldn't be setting foot in my home at all if they didn't intend acting the part!



As for our Signor Claudio's wishlist, if that €14mil+ CL money goes where it should do, between that and maybe 7 or 8 mil for Doni, Baptista, Antunes and the Janitor, it's possible! The Adriano thing will depend on just what arrangement he, Gilmar his agent, Corinthians and our management can come to over his wages contract. I think it goes without saying there would be no transfer fee.

[ASR1927]

Hey Ed, I received the scarf and hat today. Very nice!
Thanks again.

[pocari_fenrir]

Try not to read into the Epic Yarn non-metaphor so much, Maldini. However, it is an awesome game if you have 2 people. One of the few titles worth buying and i say that with a modded Wii with 100+ games.

As for the $14mil + CL money, where on earth did we get $14mil from?? Im quite convinced that Rosella has stuffed her bush with it. I dont see Ranieri being able to spend the kitty but i would love for Ranieri to step forward and elabroate on our needs a bit. I would love to pick his demented brain on whatever tactics he thinks he's drilling into this side. Also, i would rather we kept Antunes, he needs the playing time but im convinced he will shine for us.

[Carlo Romano]

There ya go pocari... I'm nothing if not thorough!

From Romanews, getting to the knockout stages is worth at least 14 million.

Broken down, it means to be among the last 16 teams in the CL will give us €3 million in bonuses guaranteed by Uefa with other top proceeds giving not less than 2 million more. Add to that the ticket sales at the Olimpico, but above all a slice of the television rights of €337.8 million.

It can be further broken down by quoting the earning of 3.8 mil for initially qualifying for the opening phase, 3.3 mil for the 6 matches already played plus another €800 thousand for every victory which means 2.4 mil!

As we see it should actually be in excess of 14mil...

Then there is a figure of around 9 million, for those who reach the last eight. The rest you can check for yourself...


You know my cynical nature by now... that's why I said, "provided that money goes where it ought to go, the club." Now the only trouble with that is, the longer this ownership change takes, some of that dough is going to have to pay the bills like wages etc rather than go on the calciomercato!


Senza dubbio, una

[RomaShield27]

[RomaShield27]

Adriano agent confirms Brazilian bids
Thursday 9 December, 2010

Adriano’s agent confirms offers from Corinthians and Palmeiras, but insists “he should remain at Roma to prove he’s back to his best.” The striker has barely featured for the Giallorossi since joining as a free agent in the summer and his mother told reporters this week that he wanted a return to Brazil.

“I think she has been misrepresented,” agent Gilmar Rinaldi told Calciomercato.it. “Ronaldo called Adriano’s mother to tell her that if the lad is unhappy, he can talk it over when he comes to Brazil. Nobody said Adriano wanted to leave.

“Certainly Corinthians and Palmeiras want him. Ronaldo calls him every day, but at the moment they are just showing interest and there is no official bid.

“In my view Adriano should remain at Roma to prove he’s back to his best. Right now he has not wanted to listen to any proposals. When he comes to Brazil to see his mother, I will also come to Rio and we’ll all talk it over together to make a decision.”

--------------------------------

We really need to offload Adriano. The sheer size and weight of the man is a joke and a half for a professional footballer, let alone one who gets paid €4m-a-year (€5m ) to play fekkin football. Its just ridiculous. He has over six months here now and he doesn't look any better than the day he slobbed his way into Fiumicino. He can barely run. He has become something of a joke amongst the fans in the Curva Sud. They cheer whenever he gets on – but its more of a cheering and a laughing at the fat kid who finally gets a run out for his school football team. His arrival in the first place was a desperate act of a desperate management (Rosella still thinks he's a "champion") and he practically became void after the arrival of Borriello.

I can't remember now, but did we include some sort of get-out-of-fat clause in his contract, whereby we can cancel his contract if he starts acting up? I can't recall if that happened or was only speculation? If its there we should really look into doing that. Or at the very least, offload him on loan to Corinthians and Palmeiras or whoever so he can party all he wants down there.

Carlo/Pocari, on the point of Ranieri getting the €14mil+ CL money to spend in January, I think its unlikely he'll be given such a big amount to buy new players with given the future of the club is still up in the air. He may be allowed to buy one or two players, for a small fee, or a loan, or a pay later deal. Also, remember that some of that money will have to be allocated to our managements favourite way of buying players, buy now pay later, and we still have to pay all of the money for Borriello (€10) and also most of the money for Burdisso (€8m, of which we paid €2.5m initially last summer, the rest of which is to be paid in similar installments over the next two-three years).

[ASR1927]

Roma will have to do without goalkeeper Julio Sergio again after he suffered an injury during the warm up before Wednesday's Champions League match against Cluj.

The veteran Brazilian pulled up and had to be replaced at the last minute, giving Claudio Ranieri something of a selection headache.

He underwent a series of tests this morning including an MRI, which revealed that he has a first degree tear in the adductor muscle of his right thigh.

Julio Sergio will miss this weekend's clash against Bari, but the club's doctors are hopeful he'll be fit in time for Roma's trip to Milan on December 18.

[Carlo Romano]

Ed, I read Gilmar's comments on Big Fatso in the early a.m. on Mediaset tv text service and I have to say I couldn't at that point even bring myself to post anything about it...any more than I could bear to post some of the other annoying and self contradictory comments from Adriano over the recent days.

First we got the "I don't want to leave Roma under the same circumstances I left Inter" bit, then the "unhappy at not playing bit," and now a repeat of the "how much he wants to prove himself" lament.

I said when I posted the piece on Corinthians' meeting with our management to discuss a deal on Adriano, pending an agreement on terms, that I hope it comes to pass and believe me I do. What I most certainly do not want to see is Gilmar over Christmas in Brasil talking Adriano into a "monkey see, monkey do" situation... a copy of the way Baptista la bestia is content to stay in the shadows, whereby we continue indefinitely to pay two fat salaries under what amounts to false pretense.

Yesterday some of the Roma websites were reporting that Baptista's wage demands/transfer fee combine to frighten off potential buyers for his...services, such as they are. I know all too well Roma has in the past made big mistakes but to have two highly paid, yet largely (pun intended in Adriano's case) unproductive players on our books at the same time smacks of worse than being described simply as poor management.

On the CL bonuses we will receive. For as long as Newco runs our affairs then I have to agree with your pessimism that we will see little of that being spent on squad reinforcement when we still owe transfer fees on two players and again, I hate to remind us all, we are still in debt on our accounts which means a percentage of that money will have to be used to pay the coach and players. I, being the "ever optimistic," was looking to around February to see a new ownership in place and as long as it's not Angelucci where little will change on a day to day basis if he really means to keep Rosella and her softcock exec team in place, we ought to see a marked improvement almost immediately. Many hope to have a new management system in place by January which would be the more assured way for Ranieri to get his two midfielders. I'd love to see that happen but...



Forza Roma is talking today of our having both Julio Sergio and Jon Riise back for our match against Milan. (You beat me to it again, Jeff! ) They also mention today for those who place any store in these things that Andrea Romeo, our designated arbitro for our upcoming Sunday gig with Bari, has only taken charge of two Roma matches. A 3-0 home win for us against the Genovese, and a certain 3-3 away match with Livorno...

As for Totti's statement today that il campionato is not yet decided and that lo scudetto is still within our grasp, we could hardly expect him to say anything else publicly, could we?

I much more appreciated his realistic CL comment on the draw: “We hope that with respect to previous years it is kind to us. We have acquired a certain international experience in recent years which can only be of added value.”

[pocari_fenrir]

Yah thanks for the reminder on our stupid deals there Shield. We're most likely to pay off the Burdisso transaction and "bank" the rest. Otherwise, Unicredit will probably want to take whatever we've "earned" to pay off whatever Rosella and Co. were short. As to the 2 fat Brazilian contracts we have, id like to scratch those two as another Prade fumble.

Carlo, whatever we make from ticket sales are most likely relinquished. The only infusions that would be of use are limited to prize money and a new ownership. Let's hope we draw Shakhtar or something, we'll have an easier time getting into last 8

in other news, i found out some guy made a page for every player on our current roster on Facebook, including a whole whack of Primavera born between '92-'95

[RomaShield27]

Ecco i convocati per il Bari: out Vucinic e Adriano. Ci sono Simplicio e Riise
– Sabato 11 Dicembre 2010 12:08

Ecco i convocati della Roma per la gara di domani contro il Bari
1 BOGDAN LOBONT
2 CICERO JOAO DE CESARE (CICINHO)
3 PAOLO CASTELLINI
4 JUAN SILVEIRA DOS SANTOS
5 PHILIPPE MEXES
7 DAVID MARCELO CORTES PIZARRO
10 FRANCESCO TOTTI
11 RODRIGO FERRANTE TADDEI
17 JOHN ARNE RIISE
22 MARCO BORRIELLO
23 LEANDRO GRECO
29 NICOLAS ANDRES BURDISSO
30 SIMPLICIO FABIO HENRIQUE
32 DONIEBER ALEXANDER MARANGON (DONI)
33 MATTEO BRIGHI
77 MARCO CASSETTI
87 ALEANDRO ROSI
89 OKAKA CHUKA STEFANO
94 JEREMY MENEZ

Vucinc out for Sunday with a recurrence of his thigh strain. There were also reports that Ranieri was thinking of for this game as punishment for their row, but he hasn't done that from the players called up, but might drop them to the bench. Juan also isn't fully fit and he has a slight muscular problem so he may not start.

Also interesting words from Ranieri is his press conference this morning about a problem with concentration"

Roma: Ranieri "E' un problema di concentrazione"
– 11-12-2010 13:09

Il tecnico giallorosso si rammarica: "Il nervosismo? E' positivo, ma tramutiamolo in entusiasmo" E' un momento non particolarmente felice in casa della Roma. I giallorossi, pur avendo conquistato la qualificazione agli ottavi di Champions, sono in ritardo in campionato, a -10 dal Milan capolista. “Avessimo avuto quei quattro punti in più che abbiamo lasciato per strada – ha detto Claudio Ranieri – saremmo terzi in classifica”. Il riferimento del tecnico è alle rimonte subite negli ultimi minuti: “Abbiamo un po' perso concentrazione forse, e questo lo paghi. Le altre ti mettono sempre in difficoltà se non ce la metti tutta”.

C'è stato anche qualche segnale di nervosismo, come la lite tra Totti e Burdisso in Romania: “Nasce proprio dagli errori, perché vogliamo fare di più. E' positivo, ma si deve tramutare in voglia ed entusiasmo”. Non ci sarà Vucinic contro il Bari: “La rosa della squadra ha dimostrato di non cambiare molto, se abbiamo qualche infortunio. Non sono preoccupato”. Ranieri vuole chiudere il 2010 all'Olimpico con una grande prestazione: “Voglio che lasci un buon ricordo ai tifosi. Sono straordinari, ci soffiano dietro e noi non gli stiamo dando quello che meritano”.



Also nice from the tifosi toward Mexes at training: “Phil dal 2004 uno di noi, RESTA!”

[Carlo Romano]

I'm really short of time today and it's fortunate this is a typically quiet week end on the forum with only a couple of posts to respond to, which I will do later. So briefly, a translation of Signor Claudio's remarks...

On Totti, Burdisso, and the concentration factor: "The late goal we lost to Cluj sparked a row between Francesco Totti and Nicolas Burdisso. The irritability comes from mistakes, because we want to do better. It is positive tension, but we must try to transform it into hunger and enthusiasm. We keep dropping leads due to a lack of concentration and I am trying to funnel the lads' positive tension into enthusiasm.

We suffer from a lack of concentration towards the end of games and you pay a price for that! The other teams will put you under pressure unless you give it 100 per cent all the way through. It’s a pity, because if it weren’t for the four points we’ve lost along the way, we’d be in third place in Serie A right now. I am not worried, as the team has shown it doesn’t change much even with a few injuries. We want to end 2010 at the Olimpico with a great experience for the fans. They are extraordinary, push us forward like wind in our sails and we are not giving them what they deserve.”

As Ed has said, Il mister had apparently threatened to drop Francè and Nico as a punishment but that can't happen now (if it was ever going to) since Vučinić and Adriano are both out with muscular problems. Vuci apparently limped off the training ground this morning and of course it's no great surprise to hear about Adriano. With his unfit body, he is much more susceptible to muscular aches and other complaints. Daniele De Rossi is suspended let's not forget, and again as Ed has said above, Juan isn't fully fit. So our lineup tomorrow against Bari may be:

[RomaShield27]

Quiet weekend alright, Carlo. Its only Bari we're playin too, if we can't win this one we may as well forget it. So we may as well forgot it, then. Plus there was meant to be the players 'strike'. By the way, Carlo, you do trojan work here in your reports etc, but you do realise you don't have to reply to every post made, right?!

RomaNews have Riise starting ahead of Castellini. I didn't think he would be fit. Could be best to rest him. They also have Taddei in ahead of Simplicio.


ROMA-BARI, le probabili formazioni
http://www.romanews.eu – Sabato, 11 dicembre 2010 ore 20.05.04 - 163 letture

Per Roma-Bari si torna al consueto orario delle 15,00, abbandonato dal 7 novembre, giorno del derby. Claudio Ranieri è costretto arinunciare a Daniele De Rossi, squalificato, ma anche a Mirko Vucinic, infortunato, che ieri era dato nell'attacco titolare con Menez e Borriello. Ora Totti appare sicuro del suo posto. Della lista degli indisponibili fanno parte anche J. Sergio, Adriano, Perrotta e J. Baptista. Decimato il Bari di Ventura che deve rinunciare a Barreto, Kutuzov, Parisi, Ghezzal, S. Masiello, Castillo, Alvarez, Belmonte e Almiron, infortunati, e a M. Rossi, squalificato.

Roma (4-3-1-2): 1 Lobont; 77 Cassetti, 5 Mexes, 4 Juan, 17 Riise; 11 Taddei, 7 Pizarro, 33 Brighi; 94 Menez; 22 Borriello, 10 Totti (32 Doni, 29 Burdisso, 2 Cicinho, 3 Castellini, 23 Greco, 30 Simplicio, 89 Okaka).

All. Ranieri
Squalificati: De Rossi.
Diffidati: Burdisso N.
Indisponibili: Perrotta, Julio Sergio, Vucinic, Adriano, J. Baptista

Bari (4-5-1): 1 Gillet;28 Galasso, 5 A. Masiello, 15 Belmonte, 84 Raggi; 7 Rivas, 14 Gazzi, 8 Donati, 13 Pulzetti, 19 Crimmi); 30 Rana, 7 Rivas. (25 Padelli, 6 Rinaldi, 40Monopoli, Cilfone, 91 D'Alessandro, 32 Romero, 18 Caputo).

All.Ventura.
Squalificati: Rossi.
Diffidati: Donati.
Indisponibili: Barreto, Kutuzov, Parisi, Ghezzal, S. Masiello, Castillo, Almiron, Alvarez, Belmonte

Arbitro: Romeo
Assistenti: Petrella-Iannello
Quarto Uomo: Pinzani

[Carlo Romano]

Ed...lol! I know I don't have to respond to all posts and nor would I...it so happens the couple made yesterday I want to respond to! I always had a suspicion that Pocari shared my cynical attitude and now I know for sure he does! The difference is, while I agree entirely with him that Rosella will be stuffing some of our CL revenue up her brush, I as an older man am possibly expected to show a little more decorum when expressing my thoughts. So I will phrase it as, committing indiscretions, misappropriating funds, getting her sticky fuckin' paws on what she shouldn't...it's still all the same shit though, yeh?

That said, I note from LaRoma24.it earlier, Simplicio seems to be in doubt against Bari after a collision with Mexes at training. I hope the guy I earlier in the season referred to as Little Fatso is OK, as he is starting to show again the form he once had! Certainly we have Greco as cover but...as was said recently, he still has things to learn in his game. I see you have Taddei listed and this may be why!

The tifosi at Trigoria yesterday had a banner for Mexes: "Resta con noi!" Again, Montali seems to be a lone voice in our management over wanting his contract renewed. I want all three of our central defenders, Nico, Philou, and Juan. We need them!

I agree that if we can't beat Bari in our own back yard without breaking sweat, it's time to chuck it. I'm sure Lupa and Vincenzo who can also be quite the cynics will say, "Sì Carlo, ma questa è Roma, non dimentica!"


Pocari, that profile on Facebook sounds interesting! Because we seldom see or hear much about our primavera squad, I only know a very few names. The Roma Uno channel from time to time shows them play. The Roma channel on Sky Italia will be the best place I should think but as I've said before, it's bad enough in the UK being held to ransom just to subscribe to Sky Italia on its own. Take the extras like Roma Ch and one or two other "stand-alone" priced channels and it goes from the sublime to the ridiculous.

[pocari_fenrir]

[RomaShield27]

7 grand posts?! As in words? Or do you mean my posts are so good they are worth 7 grand? Actually, on the FaceBook thing, should we, as in SerieAForums, have a Facebook page? I dont use FB myself, I dont even have an account, but it could be something worth setting up, no?

lol, check out the last comment below from RomaNews: "Temperatura rigida, Stadio Olimpico deserto"

ROMA-BARI, le probabili formazioni. Out Pizarro. C´è Simplicio
http://www.romanews.eu – Domenica, 12 dicembre 2010 ore 14.06.04 - 1.542 letture

Per Roma-Bari si torna al consueto orario delle 15,00, abbandonato dal 7 novembre, giorno del derby. Claudio Ranieri è costretto a rinunciare a Daniele De Rossi, squalificato, ma anche a Mirko Vucinic, infortunato, che ieri era dato nell'attacco titolare con Menez e Borriello. Ora Totti appare sicuro del suo posto. Della lista degli indisponibili fanno parte anche J. Sergio, Adriano, Perrotta e J. Baptista. Ancora fuori Pizarro. Il trio di centrocampo è formato da Brighi, Simplicio e Greco. Decimato il Bari di Ventura che deve rinunciare a Barreto, Kutuzov, Parisi, Ghezzal, S. Masiello, Castillo, Alvarez, Belmonte e Almiron, infortunati, e a M. Rossi, squalificato.

LE PROBABILI FORMAZIONI

Roma (4-3-1-2): 1 Lobont; 77 Cassetti, 5 Mexes, 4 Juan, 17 Riise; 11 Taddei, 30 Simplicio, 33 Brighi; 94 Menez; 22 Borriello, 10 Totti (32 Doni, 29 Burdisso, 2 Cicinho, 3 Castellini, 23 Greco, 7 Pizarro 89 Okaka).
Squalificati: De Rossi.
Diffidati: Burdisso N.
Indisponibili: Perrotta, Julio Sergio, Vucinic, Adriano, J. Baptista

Bari (4-5-1): 1 Gillet;28 Galasso, 5 A. Masiello, 15 Belmonte, 84 Raggi; 7 Rivas, 14 Gazzi, 8 Donati, 13 Pulzetti, 19 Crimmi); 30 Rana, 7 Rivas. (25 Padelli, 6 Rinaldi, 40Monopoli, Cilfone, 91 D'Alessandro, 32 Romero, 18 Caputo).
Squalificati: Rossi.
Diffidati: Donati.
Indisponibili: Barreto, Kutuzov, Parisi, Ghezzal, S. Masiello, Castillo, Almiron, Alvarez, Belmonte

IL PREGARA
13,40 - In campo alcuni giallorossi, tra i quali LOBONT, per controllare il terreno di gioco
Temperatura rigida, Stadio Olimpico deserto

[Carlo Romano]

It's still a bit too early for the official team sheet to come out but as Ed has said, Romanews tells us that although Simplicio is fit to play after that accidental whack on the leg he got from Mexes in training yesterday, it's likely he will start on the bench and Greco will open for us. They also say Pizarro is out but LaRoma24.it lists him among the subs. We'll soon find out!

btw, Ed, just in case you hadn't heard, ESPN UK is showing our gig in Milano on Saturday in HD!


Forza Roma is today adding to the recent stories of Adriano going home. Corinthians or Palmeiras, it's all the same to me as long as he leaves.


Pocari, I'll look forward to that info, just whenever you have a spare minute...

[RomaShield27]

Yeh I seen that its on ESPN next week alright, Carlo, should be a good one. Why are they showing Brescia v Samp now, though, surely our game would be the bigger attraction?

Game is FSC so I've got a whopper Veetle stream going, although its a few minutes behind: http://www.veetle.com/index.php/channel ... 3cfd24189b

[Lupa]

Nice goal from Juan on Totti's free kick.

For some reason RAI International is showing this game, which was a pleasant surprise when I turned on the TV/

[RomaShield27]

Nice finish from Juan alright. Showing the strikers how to do it. Just seen a replay there of the goal and it actually looked liked Juan was in an offside position before the free-kick was taken. A little lucky there. We're not looking totally focused out there, lets hope we can step it up and go on to add a second. I don't want to see us sit back now and just defend this lead.

[Deini]

Totti missed a penalty? Goddamn. I see Doni warming up so Lobont also injured? Next week primavera goalie on the bench if the curse of the goalies continues. And Okaka doing his bst to look like Balotelli with his haircut.