as there is no weekender rich has asked me to post my italian corner here

 

Inter bad run continues

Inter Milans bad start to the season continued this week as they struggled to a 2-2 draw at home against Sampdoria. The Nerazzurri fans thought that the first win was going to come up until the 86^th minute when Walter Pandiani scored his 2^nd of the game to level the scores and send Inter manager Rob O'Brien scratching his head thinking what has gone wrong this season.  With another tough game coming up against Palermo local sports papers think that the bad run is going to continue.

 

Juve leave it late to win

Italian power house Juventus left it very late to take all 3 points this week against Genoa. Everyone thought that there was going to be a massive shock on the cards until the last 4 minutes which shows you can never take your eyes off the ball when playing Juventus as they will punish you. Manager Steve Jenkins saw his side stretch their unbeaten run to 27 games, something that no other club in the world of Football Academy can match. On Monday they travel to Stamford Bridge for their first European cup game of the season. Lets hope they can bring the 3 points back home to Italy.

100% runs continue

Both Lazio and Catania maintained their 100% records this weekend with Lazio winning 4-1 against Torino and Catania overcoming Udinese by 2 goals to 1.  Both sides are tearing Seria B apart this season and it doesnt look like anyone will get close to them. Teams like Atalanta, Empoli and Ascoli were supposed to challenge near the top this season but havent had the best of starts with Ascoli, the only team of the 3, to get a win this season. If some teams dont pull their fingers out they are going to be too far behind to change anything.

 

"KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU.....SAHAR..."

Roma boss speaks to the local paper 'The Roman' about the future transfers at the club.

TR: Are the rumours true you have signed Ben Sahar from Lazio?
JP: Yes, spot on we have signed the striker.
TR: Why? Surely your problems are conceding at the moment?
JP: Very true and we are going to rectify that in the next few weeks.
TR: How?
JP: Well last week we signed Cana from Blackburn who is a very defensive midfielder and to join him in centre midfield we are bringing in Liverpool youngster Disegni, who is another very defensive midfielder.
TR: Will that be enough with a losing centre back Defendi this week?
JP: We are losing a top class defender in Defendi but in turn Pires who is joinging this week (also from Liverpool) is superb. He will slot in well.
JP: We will also have the best keeper in the world joining us this week from Lazio in Iker Casillas.
TR: isn't he a bit old? What about injuries?
JP: He won't play every game due to his age. He will be sharing the keepers jersey with our number one Ximun.
TR: There must be players leaving then to accommodate the newbies?
JP: Unfortunatley we will need to leave a few players go, as I mention Defendi is on his way to Liverpool now and Chambers is going to join him in 2 weeks. The only other player thats leaving is Arnulfo to make way for Sahar.
TR: Thanks for your time and we look forward to seeing the new players very soon!



He speaks about becoming a chairman

TR: Great news for you taking over Real Betis, how will you clear the debt?
JP: That seems to be taking care of itself with the sale of players by the administrators.
TR: What if its not all gone, will you pay the rest?
JP: If I have to, yes.
TR have you spoke to the manager about plans for the club yet?
JP: I have mailed him but with no reply.
TR: Are you going to put up with that as chairman?
JP: NO. He has a few more days and if he hasn't replied he's gone...
TR: Harsh?
JP: Not really. Alan Sugertits wouldn't put up with it, why should I?

Napoli Strengthen their Spine

Seie A new boys Napoli have signed midfield talent Mark Noble to help strengthen the core of their team this week.

With CB Santacroce (24) and St Lavezzi (25) Mark Noble (25) will help provide the backbone of the team for the next 5 years as the Napoli team look to hold down their Serie A status.

Manager Andy Fletcher is keen to get as many points on the board this year and believes Noble will add something different, "Mark is a player who can do a decent all round job, he's the right age for the clubs transfer policy and has already been greeted well by the other lads, he may need to rest for a week or two as his fitness is not where I would like it to be but it wont be long before he is running our midfield"

Fletcher also hinted of other signings to arrive, we are looking at one or two other players and can hopefully agree something in the next few weeks. We need to stick with our development policy of developing youngtsers and the opening of our academy this week I think shows our intent. If wehave to bounce back again from Serie B stronger then we will but our aim is to hold onto this top flight status.

 

(Q) Why have you shunned the media after losing to Juventus?

(A) If I had commented after the game it would have been less coherent and my words would have got me into trouble. I felt the officials let us down on a day that could have woken up Italian football.

 

(Q) What decisions were you unhappy with?

(A) We had the lead and we were looking comfortable. Juventus had their chances  but I was feeling confident at 2-1 with fifteen minutes left. We scored a great goal and the linesman gave an offside for a player that wasn't even involved in the play.

"77 mins Daniel Parejo has the ball out wide. He takes on his man and gets past him with ease!! There's space to run into. The keeper starts to come out but someone runs across his line of vision.The ball flies over the keepers head excellently into the back of the net!! The linesman is flagging though, one of the strikers was offside. He blocked the keepers view totally there"

 

If the ball managed to get past our player then the goalkeeper could have seen the shot so how the officials can pretend he was in the way and effecting play I don't know. It's a silly decision but it got worse. With five minutes left the referee gave the worst penalty decision I have ever seen in my time in football. Our defender was sat in the dressing room after the match in tears he did nothing but was punished for it and he now feels the loss to Juventus is all his fault. I would like the officials to come and tell him just what they were thinking because I can't tell him.

"85 mins Valeri Bojinov has the ball out wide, he turns to take on his marker.  He jinks from side to side, the defender is backing off...  Tries to whip in a cross, its hit the defenders hand!! Arms go up appealling for the penalty...  It's been given!! The referee points to the spot. The defender looks distraught.  The man who won it is going to take it, takes a moment to roll up his socks...  GOAL!! Smashes it straight down the middle and the keeper jumps to one side."

 

If Bojinov smashes the ball into the defenders hand from that close how is it a penalty? My defender didn't have time to move his arm to try and block it he just had it kicked up at him. There was no intent it wasn't like he was waving his arms over his head like a madman. At 2-2 the players heads dropped and they shouldn't have done this but with four minutes left I can't possibly explain how furious I am that the officials made yet another bad decision. Just after the goal we felt we should have had a free kick, Juventus wanted the win but they were throwing their weight around bullying us.

"86 mins Antonio Montella shows impressive strength to knock his man off the ball. His opponent fell like a rag doll there for a moment."

 

The referee seemed to lose his whistle every time they fouled us but found it when we went into a fifty-fifty tackle on them. Everything was going their way and it has to be a case of referees making decisions in favour of the big Italian team. The Italian FA can complain about how poor the league is but if they let blatent favouritism go on in the league what do they expect. It was topped off when the same player making the fouls scored the final goal in injury time. We wanted the whistle because a point against eleven Juventus players and one biased referee was proving difficult by then but the referee was checking his black and white Juventus watch for added time.

"90 mins Chus Herrero drops his shoulder to create space for the pass. Antonio Montella is awarded a free kick and stands just to the left of it. It's just outside the area. They roll the ball to the left for him to strike GOAL!! He hammers it into the goal behind the wall."

 

It was freekick after freekick for them but every foul they made he just waved it on. It was so obvious if we could have seen the brown envelope full of cash poking out of his back pocket it couldn't have made it more obvious. Antonio Montella should look hard at himself because he cheated his way to victory in that game, but more sickeningly the referee let Juventus get away with it.

 

(Q) Is the season over?

(A) I still think we can perform and I expect my players to keep going but it will be difficult for Genoa to fight against Juventus if we keep getting referees who support them when we play them. What Italy needs is some of the other teams to really give Juventus a tough game. We need other teams to step up and challenge them. If one or two teams can take points from them and show they are vulnerable other teams will take heart and that will throw the league wide open.

 

(Q) Do you expect reprocussions for your candid view of the match official?

(A) One unfortunate decision is bad luck. If someone from the Italian FA can explain to me that string of bad decisions over an important fifteen minutes then I will happily talk through my comments with them.