I’m Ignoring Igli

By: cathal | January 4th, 2009

I like Tare but I hope he’s talking bullcrap.

I’m referring to an article that I found on goal.com. The headline is quite scary if you are hoping for vast improvements within the Lazio setup: “Tare Predicts Only Departures From Lazio.” This is in stark contrast to the headline of this article posted three days earlier: “Lazio’s Tare Promises Important Purchase In January.”

First things first, goal.com don’t half like to mess with our heads. If you compare the actual text of both articles, Igli is basically saying the exact same thing; Lazio will only sell…unless of course we find someone who can improve the team. We could speculate all day long about who can and can’t improve the team but there is one thing I would conclude from these comments. I don’t see us spending big bucks. In fact, I smell loan deals all the way.

For me, that narrows down our targets. I’m expecting one midfielder this winter and I reckon there are three men in the hunt for the contract. One is Elano who is currently fuelling the speculation of a move to Rome. I am very wary of the fact that it is the Brazilian himself who is sparking the rumours and not anyone involved with our club. He is interested in Lazio but I’m not quite sure if the interest is being reciprocated. Dubarbier may well be on the cards but once again, nobody is saying much about that other than his agent. Veron is the other possibility although technically that is a suggestion, not a rumour. In my opinion, if we sign anyone it will be one of those three. All talk of a central defender being drafted in has died.

To refer back to Tare’s comments for a moment, the departures should be Makinwa and Belleri. Stephen is a dead cert to go, I think its safe to conclude that, the question really is where. Chievo? I have my doubts, they are almost relegated, there is no way they want something permanent and Lotito does. West Ham interests me more; we have already offloaded Behrami to them and boy do they need a striker who can run. If Belleri can be sold he will be and Inzaghi must be a contender to go. He is effectively a free agent in the summer and with Siena apparently showing an interest, he might well leg it to the exit before he is pushed. Mauri looks like he’s staying, Palermo are supposedly eyeing up Rocchi as a back-up and Fiorentina have apparently snatched Ledesma through the mindboggling Article 17 despite the fact Ledesma’s own agent says this is impossible (answers on the back of a postcard please).

Speaking of answers and postcards, if anybody manages to crack the case that is Igli’s role at Lazio, please let me know in the comments section. In the meantime, I’m off to the betting shop to place my life savings on Tare’s position being officially declared “The Go-Between Guy” before the end of 2009.