[aquila]

This is the headline of an interesting report in today's "Il Messaggero", although the article is a bit "dramatizing things". But anyway, I thought of translating it.

Rossi has said “It’s our blame”. Lotito has said “It’s their blame”. And this is a signal of what is going to explode at Lazio. The timer will begin to tick on the evening of 7th May. If it will be a night of bad result, the scapegoat of course will be the coach. Aye, the one who has taken Lazio to the Champions Cup. The one of the derbies won as underdogs and the bathe into the fountain. The one who runs to the Curva to take part in his players’ celebration. The one who has said “Being at Lazio is an honour and a point of arrival”. The one who Saturday has said, before the match against Juventus, “the club knows what is necessary to make the team better”. But maybe he will not see the team becoming better. Because if the team get to the final of Coppa Italia, or win it, he will have the strong temptation of resign, given his proud nature. Because this is the point: resignation better than sacking.

There’s the need of arising the quality of the team, recruiting a couple of very good players, to be close to the biggest clubs, who, for sure, will spend a lot of money and will play in a league of their own. But amongst Lazio fans, there are those who have different thoughts: “The most important thing is staying in Serie A, thank you Lotito for rescueing us”. Because one can be happy even if the team end once 10th, then 6th and the next time 14th.

So, for this target a team may be coached by an Acori, or a Ballardini, or another young coach? It seems that four coaches have already been contacted, so they said and maybe it’s just bragging. For sure, to them, Lazio looks like a Ferrari, and they are looking forward to drive it. Rossi, who has been driving it for three years, doesn’t think it’s a Ferrari and could ask for too many spare parts and a couple of competent mechanics. He will ask it for the good of Lazio, not asking money, unlikely some players. But his presence has become encumbering.

Just some notes. Di Carlo, who worked miracles at Mantova, has been a flop at Parma, the motivator Novellino did the same at Torino, Giampaolo has been sacked at Cagliari. And then Baldini, Mandorlini, Ficcadenti. If we were Lotito, yesterday, we would have said to the players “Rossi remains Lazio coach, for at least other three years. With the players he has at his disposition, he has worked miracles”.

---

Firing Rossi could just be one of the biggest mistakes Lotito can do. The journalist hints at Rossi asking for a couple of very good players and Lotito not wanting to spend so much money. I completely agree with the last sentence of this article. Lotito should have said those words to nail the players to their responsability. And if he fires Rossi, it will mean a complete lack of ambition.

 

[Anomander Rake]

So many clubs have sacked their coaches this season, apparently it has worked only for Cagliari. I hope Lotito will listen to reason for once and not fire Rossi. Being a Lazio coach is one of the most thankless jobs in the world with the demanding fans, media attention, limited funds and a president for whom the less said the better. I can't imagine many competent coaches vying for it...if one of them does a good job by some chance he will probably leave ASAP. At least for Rossi we know he can win derbies.

 

[Biancoceleste]

Lotito doesn't seem to understand what kind of job Rossi has done. We can't get a better coach than him.

 

[aquila]

Rossi is very angry and pretty disappointed by Lotito's behaviour. It is universally known that teacher must not be blamed in front of his pupils, yet Lotito has gone public saying that evryone has to be blamed for the shameful defeat against Juventus, from coach to players.

Also it seems that Rossi asked Lotito to buy some very good (and thus expensive) players to upgrade the team remarkably, but Lotito doesn't want to do it. And of course, the crazy Roman media have dived happily into the matter, with rumours about Lazio's next coach spreading all around, from Novellino to Zico.

Of all the team components, Rossi is one of the few who has shown a real pride to be at Lazio, and if there's someone to kick away from Formello, he would be the last one to deserve that treatment. I really hope that Lotito will not be so mad to fire Rossi, if he really does that, it would mean that under Lotito, Lazio will never be anything better than mid-table.

 

[Biancoceleste]

Now would be a good time for the players to come out and show full support for Rossi. Both in the media and on the pitch.

 

[aquila]

And finally Lotito said it! "Replacing Rossi is not in Lazio's plans. But here at Lazio evryone must know that his staying at Lazio depends on committment and good results. Against Palermo I want to see the greatest committment, because we must improve our position, honour the shirt and win as sign of respect for our fans".
A wee bit late, but I really hope Lotito keeps faith in what he said. And hopefully Rossi will not resign, seeing all these "we will see if evryone deserves to stay" from Lotito, taking in consideration that there are only three meaningless games before Serie A ends. Unless Rossi's fate is strongly linked to the outcome of Coppa Italia semifinal second leg...

 

[aquila]

I think this interview to Lotito from "Corriere dello Sport" belongs to this topic.

It's not true that our squad was not up to the task until January. If it really was like that, from January till today we would have won all games. Instead we lost again worser teams.

Rossi has his ideas and probably they have proved wrong: he himself realized that problems were lying elsewhere. For examples: Bianchi has been bought, but has he played in evry match? No. Nor Rozenhal did.

If at the beginning of the season we had a big squad like now, there would have not been room for many players as happened against Napoli yesterday, and this would have created troubles. In August, more than half squad did not want any addition to the roster and there were problems. In January I decided to go on with the coach, I could have chosen otherwise but it did not happen.

---

Now it's players' fault that the team was not strengthened last summer. Evryone tell us a different version: Sabatini, Rossi, now Lotito. It's a complete mess. And it's pure blessing good that Bianchi has not played all the games. And what the hell does "If at the beginning of the season we had a big squad like now, there would not be room for many players as happened against Napoli yesterday, and this would have created troubles" mean? That we have always to have a wee squad because otherwise the players makes troubles? What a rubbish! I can tell at least ten useless players who could have been kicked away to get three good players with the money saved.
The reality is that in a month and a half the new season begins and we have not any clue about what will be our coach, nor we have a man dealing with the transfers market.

 

[Anomander Rake]

LOL, this guy is quite the clown! Half of the squad did not want additions to the roster? I didn't know football was so democratic. Come on Lotito, assume some responsibility for once. And sell or gift some of our players.

 

[Kafka]

Yes, quite surprising that most players don't want more competition in the team.

I'm trying to take the "talk is cheap" approach to our summer dealings. I want to see guys in Formello before forming opinions.

 

[Boyo]

If at the beginning of the season we had a big squad like now, there would have not been room for many players

What a preposterous notion. At the beginning of the season -- and for months after the beginning -- our squad was decimated because of all the injuries. We had to play players out of position to cover for them and were forced to play the likes of Rocchi and Pandev even when they were not fit, because there was no adequate backup. The images of Cribari playing injured with a mask in the CL because we had no one else for that position are still fresh in my mind. A big squad would have completely alleviated the situation back then.

 

[aquila]

Claudio Lotito, Lazio president, has confirmed that Delio Rossi will still be Lazio coach during an interview to Datasport by stating that Rossi's position at Lazio has never been in doubt: "You go on by asking me about Rossi, but his contract expire in 2009. I have never said Rossi will not be Lazio coach. There's not even the need to confirm it, because he's Lazio coach. I have met him only for technical details.

I don't know about Benfica's interest in Rossi, he has never talked to me about that, so that has just to be a groundless rumour. I don't believe Rossi has ever got any thought about leaving Lazio.

I have never thought about selling Lazio, not before, nor now, nor ever. I have told my lawyers to sue who has spreaded this rumour, someone will pay for that".

 

[Kafka]

Lotito always says that...as if the journalists didn't know it. Pretty annoying, really, everybody knows that in football contracts are torn all the time, and players are sold. With Rocchi he used the same line over and over, yet he was still signed to a new contract when the old one wasn't due to run out until 2009.

And sueing someone for spreading a rumour about selling the club? Claudio relax, you're starting to lose it!

 

[aquila]

If Lotito keeps Rossi for the next year only to save money, I wonder what the hell "Lazio project" is. And I wonder how the players will treat Rossi, knowing that next season he goes. Probably another wasted season.

Reading what a few people said (Sabatini, Lotito, Rossi, Mudingayi, a few players' agents), one can have some clues about what's happened this season, although maybe we already knew all the mess that was happening.

1) The players who did so well last season wanted all to be playing (perhaps as starters) in the Champions Cup this season. That's why they were not so keen on welcome new players, whereas Rossi wanted some reinforcements for the new frentic season. Then, last summer our transfers market was a joke, for management's incompetence or any other reason, anyway Rossi did not get what he wanted and the players had their chances to do what they wanted to do. At that point, something wrong was likely to happen in the dressing room between Rossi and a few players, that with the benefit of hindsight we can tell in Stendardo, Mudingayi, Mauri.

2) And it's not by chance that in the January transfers window the new arrivals were more or less covering those roles. The press silence was also called to avoid that bad situation leaking from the dressing room. I think that Peruzzi did a great work last season in being the mediator between Rossi and the other players, and this season too if he had some managing role at Lazio, he would have surely softened that hard feelings beetween a few players and the coach. Or even Beppe Signori for that matter. I mean, someone respected by players and coach and loved by fans.

3) The dressing room was split into players for-Rossi and against-Rossi, and now it's easy to know who was for and who was against. When Lotito said that he and Rossi would have met to see if the coach remains or not, he said that if there were "convergences", Rossi would have stayed. Now we know that Rossi wanted at least 8 players to be sold. Therefore Lotito had to choose if selling half team or firing Rossi. Of course he chose the compromise, at the moment. Let's only hope that next season all the team components will focus on the target they are paid for, the good of Lazio.

 

[aquila]

Annd Rossi has held an end of season press conference. This is how channel 4 summed it up:

Rossi earns reprieve

Lazio Coach Delio Rossi is likely to be sat on the Biancocelesti bench next season, despite a disappointing campaign.

Rossi saw his side knocked out of the Champions League and finish twelfth, nine places and 16 points worse off than last year.

The Italian Press has linked a number of names with the Lazio post, but it appears Rossi is set for a new deal.

“All I know is that I have passed the first round of judgement on my tenure. I will speak to President Claudio Lotito about my future.

“The renewal? It is not important at the moment, what is important is trust. We have to apologise to our fans, not so much for the results, but for the attitude shown in certain situations,” said Rossi.

The former Lecce boss, however, defended his record and asked supporters to look on the bright side. “Looking back over my three years in charge, I would say we have improved. We have given many youngsters a chance.”

Rossi believes Lazio need some shock therapy if they are to compete next term, and has told his players to show more commitment. “A cycle finished today. I want players to feel Laziali and consider the club the centre of their lives.”

The Biancocelesti are looking to overhaul their squad and introduce some new blood into a staid team. “We have to construct a compact group, not on the basis of play-related bonuses, but camaraderie. With the atmosphere that surrounds the squad at the moment, it will not be easy.”

Rossi has had public spats with a number of his players in the last nine months. Stefano Mauri was practically frozen out of the squad, while Guglielmo Stendardo was sent on loan to Juventus.

“A broken dressing room? It seems like an exaggeration to me. It is normal that such situations arise in a big squad. I no longer have players like Paolo Di Canio and Angelo Peruzzi, who used to maintain order.”

The 48-year-old tactician did not rule out welcoming those players back into the fold. “We hope to recover some players,” he added. Doubts, however, remain over the future of Gaby Mudingayi and Valon Behrami.

“I have asked the club for clarification on these matters, but if they decide to leave it will not depend on us. Obviously, the club has to evaluate other possibilities.”