Uh, apparently Ahmed eats his spinach. I haven't seen trunks like that on an athlete outside of an American football player. He has to strike fear into everybody who sees him going in for a tackle. This also means we need to come up with a nickname for him. Suggestions?
And there is absolutely nothing going on today, so most of this is a stretch.
Your Daily Cicinho Update:
I figured since Chivugate is over, we need another saga to consume a large part of our days. Who better than Cicinho? As you may have heard, the omniscient Ernesto Bronzetti has taken look into his crystal balls and let us know the truth about what is going on with Cicinho, including the lies coming from Cici's own mouth:
“The fact that he said he would even play in goal for Real means little,” claimed Bronzetti on Radio Centro Suono Sport. “He told me that to play for Roma would be a fantastic opportunity."
I'm still on the fence with this guy. I'm not sure if I like him for his assistance or despise him for sounding like a pompous ass. I'm leaning toward liking him for the help with the Giuly deal, his obvious desire to move Cicinho to Rome and his statements about being good friends with the Sensi clan. Anybody out for the benefit of Roma is good people by me. Especially one who actually holds some influence in actual football matters. Ole Bronzy will be meeting with Mijatovic this week in Moscow over vodka and caviar to try and resolve this issue. Maybe Roma should just fire Daniele Prade and hand over the duties to this guy........
Julio Sergio also got into the act, claiming that Cicinho rand him on his tele to find out where a good place for a Brazlian footballer in Rome would be to live. Now, I tend to doubt Julio Sergio is just making stuff up off the top of his head. Therefore, it means Cicinho at least knows there's a possibility he's moving to Rome. Combine this with the confirmed Italian lessons and it's getting harder and harder not to think something will happen. He's not playing over Sergio Ramos. Michel Salgado is going to need some time as well. His options in Madrid are limited.
There are also reports Roma aren't willing to move beyond €7m, while Real wants €10m. Normally I'm in the camp of "Roma are cheap bastards," but here I actually have to agree with Rosella. The guy was bought for roughly half of €7m two years ago, hasn't played well in the defenders graveyard that is the Santiago Bernabeu, had a very serious injury which caused him to lose most of last year, and now his price is almost triple what Real originally paid for him? Who's running this transaction? Moratti? That just makes no sense to me. Kid's hella talented, but certainly hasn't earned that type of valuation yet.
Still think it happens though.
News, Notes & Other Random Stuff I Just Felt Like Throwing In:
I) No more lifeless jerseys, Wind telecommunications has come to the rescue to the tune of €6m per for the next two year, along with an option on Wind's part to extend the deal for a €3rd year at €7m. Quality move, it at least gives Roma some more financial flexibility. No word on how they'll use it, nor is there any word on the color scheme being used for the jerseys. I vote simple, like not the blue and orange on the white kit, but I'm not sure if I have a say. Actually, I am sure. I don't. And for anyone who missed the logo the first two times around, here's another look-see:
II) More Francesco Modesto-gate:
Reggina reportedly wants either €2.25m for co-ownership or €3.5m and maybe a loan of Aleandro Rosi. Both of those are paltry numbers for a quality player with two years Serie A experience that Spalletti obviously really wants, or has wanted at some point. Even though Roma doesn't exactly throw money around like Hideki Matsui at an adult video convention, I think Rosella would give the thumbs up to sending €2.25m for a guy Spalletti wants. I'm beginning to wonder if the Chivu sale means Spalletti has bumped up his aspirations a little bit. Meaning they may be going after a guy with a greater quality than that of Modesto (see: Dede). Especially considering that draw, which will not allow them to field a "B" team at any point except maybe against Parma or Napoli - but even those will be fairly tough games. Anyway, just a theory. You know I'm famous for those, as inane as they may be.
Brace for Modesto's Roma press conference within the next 24 hours.
III) After it was mentioned yesterday that Adrian Pit (Pronounced 'Piz') went from a 2nd division Romanian club to a 2nd division Swiss club (now that's a lateral move), I went to do some research when I came across this, the UEFA League rankings:
1. La Liga
2. Serie A
3. Prem
4. Ligue 1
5. Bundesliga
6. Portuguese Liga
7. Dutch Eredivisie
8. Greek Super League
9. Russian Premier League
10. Romanian Liga 1
Raise your hand if you knew the Romanian league is supposedly stronger than Scotland, Ukraine, Belgium, Czech Republic, etc. Now raise your hand if you're lying. Exactly. I'm surprised, especially considering only Steaua Bucharest was present in last year's group stage. Ukraine had 2 representatives, Celtic advanced past the group, etc. Maybe I've been wrong all along about Liga 1.
Obviously I'm not giving it much credence, considering Ligue 1 is above the Bundesliga (do you suppose Michel Platini made this list up while he and Jean-Michel Aulas were sharing a candlelit bubble bath?). Though I would have to agree with the placement of the top 3, in my unbiased view point. Last year, in both competitions, La Liga seemed to be a better league than Serie A. I'd assume once Juve gets back in the fold Serie A could mount a significant offensive towards Spain. Having Chievo in the CL last season didn't exactly help the cause either (you forgot, didn't you). That'd be like bringing A.C. Slater to the math debate in high school. You know from the start you're going down in flames. There will be a lot of botched "gimmes", blank looks, and that Jessie Spano will probably end up doing a soft-core porn movie that will ruin her career more than it already was.
IV) From the holy bible of football news, goal.com:
"The Serie A runners up from last season are now likely to focus their attention on Reggina’s Francesco Modesto, after having already struck out in their attempts to lure Cicinho and Daniele Pradé."
If Daniele Prade runs out onto the pitch next season I'm never watching another Roma game ever again. And you can bank on that.
V) I'm going with a lot of quotes today because there is nothing going on. Mr. Ludovic Giuly:
"I chose Roma because of the quality of the squad. I found the same atmosphere that I left at Monaco except that there is such a will to win.”
Suck a toad, Monaco.
And it's not just me being affected by this snails-pace news day. The top headline on goal.com right now reads: Giuly Unhappy With Midweek Derby. When this is enough to actually make news, you know it's a sad day. Even better was the quote that sparked the whole article:
"I find the decision to put the derby on a Wednesday a bit strange."
I'm starting to think goal.com is the poor man's tribal football. Both make shit up, but at least tribal has the good sense not to purport itself as a legitimate journalistic venture.
Of course, then goal.com goes and redeems itself for me. If you hadn't noticed, I've dropped my hatred for Giuly now that he has joined the legion. In fact, I haven't said a bad thing about him in awhile. But the picture goal.com is using for this "article" is too much for me to handle. Notice the guy's hand and Giuly's face, which is just screaming "take me into the annuls of homosexual lovemaking, you beautiful beautiful man." Except in French. This gives a whole new meaning to the nickname The Pocket Rocket. Alright, I swear, I'm done.
VI) In case you missed it yesterday, Luciano Spalletti will now be officially know as The Grand Imperial Poobah.
VII) The ladies over at ForzaPhilippeMexes.com have provided us with some cool tidbits regarding our favorite French defender. My favorite was this:
* - His favorite food is none other then McDonald's®
* - His favorite drink is Coke (Coca Cola ®)
Which means Roma's central defense pairing of the last two seasons was comprised of one player who loves Big Macs and soda and another that has a proclivity for smoking cigarettes. Which basically goes against everything I've ever been taught in athletics. But it obviously works for them.
Therefore, in my neverending quest to become a professional athlete, I'm going to start eating quarter-pounder with cheese meals daily, supersized obviously, and pick up a pack a day Marlboro Reds habit, then hit the track. Needless to say my cardiopulmonologist is thrilled. Not that I have one. But I will.
* Round 1 of the GHD Final will be up in a little while. Yup, it's a two-legged affair.