The people have a right to know!
By: Stephen |
3 Comments
The Cassano v Lippi plot, although beginning to bore and stagnate somewhat, has taken yet another mildly interesting turn.
Riccardo Garrone’s comments about knowing why Cassano isn’t involved in the Azzurri setup (apparently it’s a “very, very ugly story“) have provoked a campaign in the Corriere dello Sport, demanding an explanation from The Powers That Be in sky-blue suits.
Like I said, the whole story is beginning to grate, but I can’t help but wonder what ugly thing Cassano could have done. Maybe Lippi’s mother was one of the 600?
No doubt time will tell, as there is plenty of flogging to be done to this dead donkey.
Category: Uncategorized
Phew!
By: Stephen | 1 Comment
Samp 0-0 Bari
This was a tough one to call pre-kickoff. How would Samp react to the demolition at Juve, and what about Bari’s excellent away form (including two draws in the San Siro Milano’s finest) so far this season?
In the end, Samp were lucky to escape with the point. The last five minutes of the game were everything that the previous eighty-five had not been – pulsating, exciting, eventful, completely and totally dominated by Bari. Castellazzi’s lunge at Barreto should have resulted in a red card for the Samp keeper, but in the end he stayed on the pitch to see the penalty sail wide of his left post as he lay prone on his right side.
And, of course, as the eternal optimist, I had a vision of Cassano picking the ball up straight from the kick-off, jinking around two befuddled Bari defenders before dropping a perfect cross onto Pazzini’s head for Samp to steal a almost barely arguably possibly maybe deserved victory (making slightly more chances means you deserve to win, right?).
Instead, Bari were the ones pushing forward, and Bari were the ones who dropped in a perfect cross and Bari were the ones who stole the points for an almost deserved victory, only for the referee’s assistant to incorrectly raise his flag for offside. It was almost embarrassing.
Either way, definitely a point gained.
Perhaps more worrying than the last minute chaos party in the Sampdoria box were the boos for Cassano at the final whistle. True, he has been a little off colour for the last couple of games, but booing him? The man has done more for this team than anyone else over the last decade, and I don’t just mean on the pitch. He was the first high-profile signing since the return from Serie B and lends us a level of class and glamour at a time when when we needed it most. I have a feeling that he was a little stung by the Bari manager’s comments before the game, claiming that he his not as good a player since he has moved on from his bad-boy act. Cassano’s response to the minority of booing cretins was quite a throwback to those good old days: “Qui si sono abituati troppo bene . Si sono abituati a mangiare la Nutella e appena devono mangiare un po’ di m**** si comportano in questa maniera.” – “They have it too good here. They’re used to eating Nutella and just when they have to eat a little bit of s**t, they behave like that”.
This, coupled with a veiled threat to leave, is slightly worrying business for Samp. Of course, Cassano will leave us sooner rather than later, but having an irritated Cassano on the books certainly would be in no-one’s interests. So, a bit of appeasement for Fant’antonio, please.
Ciao, amici Doriani
By: Stephen | 4 Comments
Hi there,
I’m theoffside’s latest signing, drafted in mid-season through a combination of feeling the need to shout loudly about Samp’s good start to the season and not really having much better to do on these nasty dark winter evenings.
I’ve been a Samp fan for about fifteen years now, a love affair that began, as I’m sure many British and Irish Serie A fans can relate to, thanks to Channel 4’s weeky Sunday afternoon fix of calcio. The love began with Gullit and Lombardo, developed with Montella and Boghossian, but really showed its true colours when Samp dropped into Serie B in the late Nineties. My fandom was challenged for those difficult four years, but my crappy internet connection and I always managed to tune in for the scores, good, bad or indifferent.
So my delight was immeasurable when Samp’s return to Serie A coincided with a year abroad for me as a part of my Italian studies. Of course, I chose Genova as my destination. And it was a phenomenal year – I saw every home game bar two, and made it to Milan, Turin, Siena, Bologna, Modena and Verona for away games.
Sadly, my year came to an end, but my love was as fresh as ever, and still is.
I’m looking forward to talking Samp with y’all.
Stephen
Category: UncategorizedTransfer summary: the story so far
By: Rolf | 4 Comments
So, we’re in the middle of July and the majority of Doria’s transfer activity has (probably) taken place.
Here’s a Doriani’s take on the action:
Delvecchio to Catania.
I don’t know what to say. Delvecchio was quickly becoming one of my favourite Sampdoria players of all time, and a key player in a Sampdoria side that has looked brilliant ever since the other half of the Goal Twins M.2 arrived in January, and then bang and he’s off to Sicily. At his peak, he leaves a team who came within a penalty kick of winning the Coppa and who looks to seriously challenge the top 4 (or should that be 5?) next season for, well, for Catania.
No offense to Catania, but it’s a damned strange transfer.
Pieri to Livorno
Easily replaced, nothing to lose sleep over at all. Wish him luck with the Commies.
Campagnaro to Napoli
Never really impressed me at Samp, wish him all the best with Napoli, but it would be patronizing to say he’ll be deeply missed.
Bonazzoli to Reggina
Good old Emiliano, you gave us some great moments (his volley against Milan back in 2005 springs happily to mind), and you’ll always have a special place at least in this Doriani’s heart. But the feeling is that it was time to say goodbye, and I think that the best place for you to relaunch your career is with Reggina in their promotion charge next season. Best of luck.
Padelli & Koman to Bari
Maybe I haven’t been paying as much attention to our squad as I should have, but who the hell are these guys? Anyway, as this Koman fellow is only on a loan he might have the chance to make his name noted with Bari. If not, then I doubt I’ll ever hear of him again. And the other guy’s name was…?
Fornaroli to San lorenzo
Just as well. Let him take a few kicks with Viggo Mortensen’s favourite club and prepare for the tough job of being a striker in Serie A.
Zauri from Lazio
Only here on loan, which is a rather smart move. If he can find form here then I’d be more than happy to keep him, and if not then it’s straight back to the blue side of Rome. Smart deal.
Mannini from Napoli
Another smart deal, Mannini looked like a good prospect the times I saw him in action with Napoli, and I reckon his failed ban (one of the more entertaining scandals in Italy over the last months, only topped by Berlusconi’s Playboy mansion) has fuelled his desire to prove himself.
Category: UncategorizedBack on track (well, sort of)
By: Rolf | 3 Comments
All right, I’ve been gone since March (as you’ll hopefully have noticed). My absence has many reasons, and I won’t bore you with them, but lack of time does account for quite a lot of it.
Now however, I feel prepared for another go, one that hopefully will see a bit more contuinity on my part.
This post won’t feature much, except for an update on all our transfers so far, but I promise to review them all on a later stage, as well as our…well, the Lazio match. Yes, THE Lazio match.
Oh, and it’s goodbye to Mazzari and welcome to Antonio Del Neri.
So far, our mercato has seen these transfers taking place:
In: Mannini (Napoli), Zauri (Lazio).
Out: Pieri (Livorno), Delvecchio (Catania), Campagnaro (Napoli) Padelli (Bari), Koman (Bari).
Notice the paramount absence of the names Cassano, Castellazzi, Gastaldello and Pazzini in the ‘out’ list.
So, I’ll leave you all with a bona sera and a “Forza Bucerchiati per sempre!”
And, painful as it is, I guess we’ll have to congratulate Lazio. Well done to you and good luck in the Europa League.
Category: UncategorizedA point well earned and uncomforting Cassano news
By: Rolf | 6 Comments
You might have noticed I rarely do after-match posts.
This is 1; because I don’t really have the time and 2; because the other bloggers around here are far better at it than me.
However, I’d like to say we should be perfectly happy with the result, seeing as the current Roma side are low on bodies but ridiculously high on fighting spirit, and a fair bit of talent too.
Pazzini got another two goals to bring his tally to 8, and Cassano showed everyone why the following news are bad indeed:
Cassano future in doubt Monday 16 March, 2009
——————————————————————————–
Sampdoria director of sport Beppe Marotta has given the clearest indication yet that Antonio Cassano will leave the club this summer.
The 26-year-old former Bari starlet has repeatedly been linked with a move to Juventus, who are looking to replace Pavel Nedved.
When asked about Cassano’s future in an interview with Radio Anch’io Sport, Marotta replied: “He is now with us and we should enjoy it.
“His transfer was one we are proud of. We will have to see what happens next season, though.”
Marotta then tried to reassure Sampdoria fans, telling them that January signing Giampaolo Pazzini rather than Cassano is the club’s future.
“Giampaolo Pazzini is the present and the future,” Marotta explained. “Pazzini was the real coup of the January transfer window.”
Marotta did, however, admit that it was exciting to have two strikers capable of matching the feats of club legends Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini.
“Pazzini and Cassano are like Vialli and Mancini in every way. They have all the qualities that Vialli and Mancini had.
“But they have to show more continuity,” Marotta concluded. “I hope that both players come to be called up for Marcello Lippi’s World Cup squad.”
channel 4.com
All I can say is that even if he do leave us he has made his mark on the club.
However, I like to think Cassano is smart enough to see what is unfolding here at the club, and how close we are to regain our former strength. We have what is undoubtedly the best attacking duo in the world, two players we can build a team around, so if Cassano can just give the project one more season, he’ll be there to reap the rewards. Hopefully.
Category: UncategorizedWhy the Bologna defeat doesn’t matter and Roma are in town.
By: Rolf | 2 Comments
Ok, so we got hammered by Bologna last weekend, a disastrous result compared to our recents triumphs against both the Milanese teams. Or is it?
I know this may be bordering on the lunatic, but I don’t think we should be in the least worried about that defeat. Di Vaio was back to his former self, and we all know just what he is capable of.
Bologna played a very good match, maybe a bit lucky but good nonetheless, while we did everything we could except scoring. But you’d have to be an even greater lunatic than myself to think that this is a sure sign the team is falling apart.
The Goal Twins.2 were swept up in a mixture of bad luck and more bad luck, and every Calcio fan knows Antonioli is extremely frustrating to play against.
This was just a bump in our way back to greatness, trust me.
And now, Roma.
I’ll admit it at once, I really like those guys. They are a beautiful club in every sense, the colours, the banners, the players, everything. And I feel the uttermost sympathy for their recent penalties heartbreak against Arsenal.
However, they’ll be playing Doria tomorrow, and my sympathy ends right there.
The sign are very good for us, Lucchini is back but probably won’t start, otherwise the only notable absentee is, um, no-one. Gastaldello and Palombo are both well and truly back, and of course, theres The Goal Twins.2 One of which is Cassano. And he’s waited long enough for his revenge.
In the capital however, things are looking bad with a capital B.
De Rossi threw a fit in the Udinese match and is suspended along with Mexes, and Juan, Perrotta, Taddei, Cassetti, Aquilani and Cicinho are out with injuries, and Totti will probably be rested after his 120-minute heroics against ACN…oops, I mean Arsenal, and so Roma will have to rely on something special from Vucinic, whose confidence might have taken a knock after his backpass to Almunia on wednesday.
Do I have a funny feeling again? Definately.
Probable line-up: Castellazzi; Raggi, Gastaldello, Accardi; Stankevicius, Sammarco, Palombo, Ziegler, Pieri; Pazzini, Cassano
Key battles:
The Goal Twins.2 vs the Roman legions = Diamoutene and Panucci, come hither, come hither…
Il Vucinic vs the Doria defence = I’ll be the first to admit that Vucinic is something special. All his goals against Genoa are enough to prove his claim to greatness, and not just because they were against Genoa. However, if Gastaldello & Co keep their focus then we should be able to keeep him quiet…I hope.
Predictions: Cassano gets his revenge tomorrow. It’s written in the stars.
Game: Sampdoria 3-1 Roma
Goals: Cassano 2′, Vucinic 22′, Pazzini 55′, Cassano 87′
MOTM:Cassano
Ma il cielo è sempre più blu
Category: UncategorizedCelebration and preparation
By: Rolf | 4 Comments
So, it’s been nearly a week since we edged out Milan and three days since we steamrollered Inter.
And not a word from me. Shame. Fact is, I’m over the moon at the moment, seeing as a number of extremely pleasing situations have come into place…
-We’ve beaten Milan.
-We’ve destroyed Inter.
-The goal twins are back.
No Doriani can disagree about the first two, but the third one? Are Pazzini and Cassano really the new Vialli and Mancini. In my eyes, the answer is a resounding YES THEY BLOODY WELL ARE!
When you think about how deadly this partnership as been so far it’s almost scary.
The Goal Twins.2 have so far scored 9 goals, and they seem to get better for every game, their level of understanding culminating in the Interslaughter, and hopefully continuing tomorrow when we face a tough away trip to Bologna.
But first, a little comment on my, oh to hell with it, most Doriani’s dream of a trophy.
Or more precisely, the Coppa trophy. One might say that the Coppa has lost all of it’s earlier prestige, something I partly agree with, and that a Coppa triumph will mean little, which I don’t agree with at all. Trophy is trophy no matter what, and the Coppa Italia is our only way back into the UEFA Cup, but there’s also the sentimental value to consider. We haven’t won anything in over 10 years, and to see this Sampdoria team lift a trophy would be a dream come true.
But, back to Bologna.
Bologna seemed to be on the up after Mihajlovic took over, but have slumped a bit recently, only taking 1 point from their last 5 matches. Time is running out for Bologna and since they’ll go to Juve next week they need a result from this. And so the question is, will they?
Di Vaio seems to have run out of steam, and with him so has the entire Bologna squad.
This will be a game where I dare to say all we have to do is focus like hell and avoid slip-ups to get 3 points. Cassano and Pazzini will do their thing and if the rest of the players can just do their job properly then I can see another victory here.
The only factor that might prove an upset is former Doria man Mihajlovic. Welcome back Sinisa.
Our present “missing players” situation is this: Delvecchio and Lucchini are both out with injuries and Palombo, Padalino and Franceschini are suspended.
Bologna have Cesar, Paonessa (who?) and Osvaldo out(I’m extremely happy he’s out for this game).
Probable line-up: Castellazzi; Raggi, Lucchini, Accardi; Stankevicius, Sammarco, Dessena, Ziegler, Pieri; Pazzini, Cassano
Key battles:
The Goal Twins.2 vs Antonioli and The Mihajlovic Guard = So we have two unstoppable forwards vs a very good keeper and four defenders who knows there will be hell to pay if they fuck this up.
Mihajlovic will need to come up with something extraordinary to inspire/terrify his defenders to prevent us from scoring more than at least one.
Marco Di Vaio vs Sampdoria = Alright Bologna do have some other god players. Really. I just can’t seem to come up with anyone else than Marco Di Vaio. The guy has got 16 goals so far but doesn’t seem to be able to keep it up to the end of the season. Good for us.
Predictions: If Di Vaio and The Goal Twins.2 keeps doing what they’ve been doing over the last 4 weeks then I struggle to see how we can lose this. We might get unlucky and draw but a loss would really require something special.
Game: Bologna 0-1 Sampdoria
Goals: Cassano 64′
MOTM: Cassano
FORZA DORIA PER SEMPRE!
Category: UncategorizedI’m terribly sorry…
By: Rolf | 7 Comments
…but I simply won’t be able to come up with a Coppa Italia post today or tomorrow, so the earliest sign of life you can expect to see from me is Friday or Saturday.
However, Johonna over at the Inter board has made a perfectly fine preview not just for Interistas but for Doriani as well.
It was by the way very nice to see him mentioning my work so far (him being one of the most read bloggers here at The Offside and I being what can be perfectly described as an upstart).
It won’t stop me from going FORZA DORIA!!! though.
Category: UncategorizedUEFA Cup woe and meeting with the Rossoneri
By: Rolf | 7 Comments
So, after getting our heads handed to us by Metalist Kharkov or whatever, we’ve got one thing left to fight for; the Coppa Italia. Others will say we have a relegation fight coming up as well but I refuse to give in to talk like that. This squad is far to good to be relegated.
However, before we keep on in our Coppa charge we’ve got a certain Milan team to deal with.
They got kicked out of the UEFA Cup as well, though they bowed out with a bit more dignity.
So we have to teams who played and lost on Thursday (Milan didn’t really lose but it certainly felt like a loss), and both teams are going through injury crisises, our a minor one but Milan are in really bad shape with Gennaro Gattuso, Marco Borriello, Alessandro Nesta, Zeljko Kalac, Kaka, Andriy Shevchenko and Daniele Bonera out.
We’re still missing Delvecchio, Gastaldello and Nenad Kristic are out with injuries and Bellucci is suspended, but let’s admit it: Milan wins the infirmary battle.
The battle on the pitch on the other hand…
We haven’t lost in FIVE matches, we recently helf Juve at their own ground and we defeated a troublesome Atalanta side. Surely something to be proud of, eh? Meanwhile, the Milanese have slumped to draws against Reggina and Genoa (okay, “slumped” might not be the word with Genoa), and they recently lost out to Inter in the derby courtesy of a volleyball beauty from Adriano. The stuff the other Milanese are getting away with borders on the ridiculous, but still:
Milan are in bad shape.
Statistically we shouldn’t be too optimistic, as we have only defeated Milan, uh, ONCE at home over the last ten years. Milan have always been Doria’s bogey-team (together with Barca), beating us in UEFA Super Cup and Supercoppa finals during the Golden Era, and trouncing us 5-0 at the Ferraris last season.
Still, I have this funny feeling AGAIN. With Nesta out Kaladze might start and we all know what Kaladze means right? Free chances given away within the last 16. Yummy. Partnering Kaladze will be either Maldini or Favalli, Maldini is the greatest defender the world has ever seen while Favalli is…Favalli. Both of them are what you’d call dead slow, so as long as our players don’t seek one-on-ones with Maldini and just focus on sprinting behind them we should be fine.
In goal for the Milanese however, will be the brilliant Abbiati. So we’re not THAT fine.
The Milan midfield are crammed with players who were serious contenders for the BAllon d’Or about 5 years ago, unless Ancelotti sends Flamini out to play.
Up front for Milan however, we find a formiable duo of Pato & Inzaghi, both of them extremely dangerous in their own right. Iv’e never missed Gastaldello so much before.
What I don’t miss however, is the days when we didn’t have Pazzini. It’s now 4 goals in 4 games, and I don’t think anyon will argue this guy is arguably our most lethal player since Mancini ran rampant through defences back in the 90′ies. Partnering is the slightly less lethal but slightly more joker-like Cassano. I think it’s safe to assume that if the right Cassano turns up then the Milan defence will have one hell of a time stopping him and Pazzini.
Probable line-up: Castellazzi; Accardi, Lucchini, Raggi; Pieri, Franceschini, Palombo, Sammarco, Padalino; Cassano, Pazzini
Key battles:
Pato & Inzaghi vs the Doria defence = Pato has becoma a master at ripping defences apart lately, and joining him is the ultimate master of poaching, Pippo Inzaghi.
I can’t help but predict at least one Milan goal today.
Pazzini and Cassano vs the old guard = We really should get something from this. Abbiati will be a nuisance but a nuisance we should be able to overcome.
Predictions: I think at least one goal for either side is likely, and so the victor will be the one who scores one goal more than that. Simple, really. And bearing in mind that our last victories against the Rossoneri have come through 2-1 victories, the likely outcome in my Blucerchiati-warped mind is…
Game: Sampdoria 2-1 Milan
Goals: Cassano 12′, Pato 41′, Pazzini 75′
MOTM: Cassano
DORIA ‘OLE!!!
The PS this week is that this is the last time Maldini graces the Ferraris. *applaudes*.
Category: Uncategorized
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