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I entered the real world today fully aware that Roma had a match that I would miss while I was out working for a living. I didn't expect Roma to walkover Spezia by any means, particularly not after what we've witnessed over the past six weeks, but I felt confident enough that Rudi Garcia's trademark torpidity could overwhelm the Little Eagles from Serie B.
Oh, silly me. I should have known better. Roma was held in check for 90 minutes by Spezia before ultimately falling in penalites, limping meekly off the pitch and out of the competition altogether. While Salih Uçan and Edin Dzeko threatened (or in Dzeko's case, had a goal nullified), it was (say it with me), the same old song and dance; Roma was inefficient and ineffectual.
Given that this was Roma's seventh straight match without a win, and its third straight without a goal (they've scored four goals over that span, fyi), it was only natural that the calls for Garcia's resignation and/or termination grew in number.
But we've grown accustomed to calls for Garcia's head by now, right? Well, the fallout from the latest Garcia debacle has brought about renewed ultimatums and claims that the job has already been offered to everyone from Luciano Spalletti, to the latest would be manager, Marcello Lippi.
Rumors are swirling around the capital that Sunday's match with Genoa is the make or break match for which so many of us have been clamoring. Just exactly how this is different from the four match manifesto he was given a month ago is beyond me, but with his side turning in putrid performance after putrid performance, the Garcia-Roma relationship may be beyond repair.
For his part, club president James Pallotta could only muster a terse apology:
Jim Pallotta: "On behalf of AS Roma & myself, I want to apologise to the fans for today's game. Congratulations to Spezia."
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) December 16, 2015
The time to change and still mount a charge on the top four is running thin. It's now or never, James.