At The Crossroads
By: cathal | September 3rd, 2009Skirting around the controversial issues is something I openly admit to doing. The last four to five months have been challenging for each and every one of us and if calcio can be draining, I am empty. From Pandev to Ledesma to De Silvestri to Lotito to Firmani; the list is endless and although you understand that everything has limits and must end, you begin to wonder how long this can rumble on for. It is with the latter that I feel the need to break my silence. Fabio is a semi-decent footballer and a great guy and like many this summer, he has been left a bit confused and bewildered but that is not the point. The fact of the matter is, when Fabio (or in this instance, his agent) speaks up, I take notice.
Lazio needs to dig itself a hole, bury itself in it for a week and have a good think about the future. I have been careful with my words here for a reason; I do believe the problem is ‘Lazio’ and not the president, the coach, the players, the fans or any other branch for that matter. None of us are faultless, admittedly, some are at fault more than others but the responsibility is there to be shared. We can point fingers at each other, we can stand at a crossroads and take different paths but at the end of the day, it is the club that will suffer.
I cannot understand how our president spends three months tracking defenders and manages to miss out on Miranda, Rever, Canini, Valdez and whoever else was on that shortlist. I cannot understand how a sporting director (Tare) can pull of a tremendous, big-name signing like Cruz and yet fail spectacularly with many other candidates. I cannot understand how some of our players did not have the decency or sense to sit down with Lotito and request to leave. Rozehnal’s departure was amicable so you do have to wonder about the rest. That cost the club millions, it cost the players months of their careers and it put prospective buyers off. I cannot understand how some people can’t just let go of Lollo; a symbol has to merit it’s worth and he was showing little signs of doing so. To be honest, there are many factors I cannot make sense of. On the contrary, there are many controversies I tend to agree with but that means nothing. Controversies is not something I want to see or hear. Enough is enough.
I read the full statement from Fabio’s agent and it drags on for what seems like forever but it can be summarised in the space of a sentence; he just wants to know what the fuck is going on. It’s not often I resort to profanity but right now, we need answers and we are not getting them and if a harsh word or two helps the cause, so be it; but I suspect it won’t. Forza Lazio!
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Category: Team News
Comments
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Cath, for starters – excellent article. I couldn’t agree with what was written and how it was written any more. Well done mate.
My sincere apologies about the lack of posts from my behalf, it has been a very busy 2-3 weeks on my end but I should be back in action in the coming days. Stay tunned for more player profiles among other projects…
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Thanks Franco and I look forward to seeing some more player profiles in the near future.
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i agree cath i think u speak for every supporter in the world for this problem and maybe u should sent this to lotito to see how we feel if he wants to know, which i doubt about it. FORZA LAZIO!
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I dont agree with boss Lotitto about Lorenzo and Fabio;-(
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Hey remember how was Rossi saked. Thats Lotito style.
GOD damn, he just wanted to get new coach over him and then to say : hey your place is already full, see ya’. -
Rossi announced his decision to leave to the media. Problem with Rossi and De Silvestri is that they tarnished their own reputations trying to make Claudio look at fault. The president probably was at fault but it is hard to sympathise with the others.
Rossi was here for 5 years, it was a 5 year project, most of us agree we needed a change, Lotito was looking around; before he was pushed, Rossi left.
Lollo just wanted out for whatever reason.
Fabio is different. he wants to play, he wants to play here and he isn’t complaining but just asking for justification. That’s fair.
Lollo reacted differently to Fabio; Lollo asked to leave, Fabio wishes to stay. I don’t find either’s situation comparable; which makes it difficult to empathise with Lollo.
New figures from the Gazzetta claim we spend at least 32 million euro a year on salaries and we spent at least 15.5 million on transfer fees this summer. Claudio claims we make a yearly profit of 52 million and keep in mind we have debt to pay. Honestly, it looks as though we spent what we had. Finances still need to be restructured, however.
Nevertheless, Real Zaragoza friendly tonight. Check http://www.myp2p.eu or http://www.rojadirecta.com or http://www.atdhe.net for possible streams and I will recap the game later. This may be a chance for Stendardo to get back into the squad. We will see. Forza Lazio!
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I have said this repeatedly on my postings….While I live in Brussels, I am priviledged to travel to Roma many times a year and watch our great Lazio play. During these opportunities I speak with as many fans, ultras and ‘in the know’ people as possible simply because I am always looking for more accurate data on our beloved biancoceleste…
Our season started with great promise. Undoubtedly Rossi had to go as his 5 yr project had run its course. Truth be known Lotito did want Zenga so he could have his own ‘mini Mourinho’ and get lots of press coverage. Zamparini knew this and snuck in at the 11th hr to snatch Zenga. Ballardini is not that bad of a 2nd pick and so far has shown himself to be worthy. He is pragmatic and methodical; but most of all he is loyal to his boss and that is why Ledesma and Pandev sit anchored on the bench. Perhaps now due to injuries and three competitions he will have to soften on this stance but otherwise he would not.
On the transfer season, I have previously said Lazio lost something when Sabatini was let go. Tare is a nice many that can speak multi-languages but you need to have a fantastic pipeline and be well connected to have any success as a Director of Player Development or Dirigente. Our track record of coming up 2nd on so many defenders, mids, etc shows this. Other teams of lesser standing have had equal if not greater success. Sure they may have spent more and overpaid perhaps but Lazio have so much more to offer with the big city, longer history and rich tradition (look at what Genoa, Napoli, Firentina and even Palermo have done this mercato season!!).
Roma and Milan are faltering already. If Lazio had acquired two central defenders I believe we could have realistically competed for a top four finish. I do not think this was out of the question. I qualify this however that now we must hold our position and battle until the January transfer window re-opens. Already you hear great gossip of Lotito and Tare not giving up and ‘working the channels’ so that they are prepared for January. I for one can only hope this turns into reality because if we can aspire to a top four finish we can:
1: receive significant cash injection via champions league play.
2: retain the talent we have because they will play on a greater stage.
3: attract greater talent to Lazio other than always looking at the 2nd tier players.
4: increase our fan base and improve our rich history.
5: possibly then have the political might to push the city into allowing us to build our own stadium which will put us on a completely different financial playing ground (almost like in England).As you can see, the success of this year is tied to many future plans. They say, “success breeds success,” that is why we MUST (not just try) get our back four stablized for January. Until that time we will have to hope that Ballardini can reinvent Stendardo, Cribari into regular selections and bring along Diakite and Radu in a more growing manner. This along with strong team defense/unity will be key.
I for one believe Ballardini can do this.
Forza lazio!! Non mollare mai!!
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Very well said, I will talk more specifically about a few of these matters later in the friendly recap.
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I agree with what anthony from belgium said, especially about success being tied to future success. Sadly, I think that Lotito and Tare may have missed the best chance to put a stamp on Europe and Serie A by not improving the squad when the time was perfect.
It seems, rather than being aggressive and open they were combative and stingy. As a result we will be fighting on two fronts with a patchwork central defense and a flawed midfield — the striker situation is strong whatever happens with Pandev since Cruz was one of the only bright spots of the transfer period.
The best we can hope for is that Ledesma is smoothly integrated back into the first team to solidify the quality in midfield and defensively that several things happen; Cribari continues his high quality play (he’s always been underrated by Lazio fans); Stendardo delivers; Diakite lives up to his promise and becomes consistent; Sviglia makes a decent fourth option. If these things can largely happen we’ll be good enough to compete and maybe even challenge for top spots on all fronts.
But that is asking for a lot and I doubt everything falls into place as we would like. A big opportunity was left on the table, whether it was Lotito’s attitude or Tare’s incompetence they need to look in the mirror and figure it out before the chance to become an elite team goes out the window (and players like Lichstiener, Kolorov and Zarate start looking for greener pastures).
Forza Lazio!!!
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