Two Weeks…Where Do We Stand?

By: bingitz2002 | August 17th, 2008

In just two weeks, we will host Lecce at the Stadio Olimpico in the Serie A kickoff and the transfer window will be open. In just that long, we will be able to take full stock of our summer activities and see where we stand compared to 19 other Serie A teams, all looking to beat each other. When one puts it that way, things look pretty grim for Toro. To put it simply, Cairo better deliver in these next two weeks or I will have lost most of my faith in him to take this club to the next level. This week has been another slow one with no major market activity. In addition, we have seen a potentially devastating injury, seen poor friendly scheduling, and been handed a tough Coppa Italia opponent a week before the Serie A season opens.

Transfer Market News

Despite lack of any serious activity, the rumors keep flying. Blackburn have now taken the lead in the race to sign Grella. The price is still in the 5 million euro range, which is one of the few good things I can say about our management at this team. The money is supposedly going to ease the complexity of the Bianchi transfer but we also have a whole host of other midfielders linked with us. Pinzi wants to join us, but there are also offers from other clubs, most notably Lazio. Apparently we can’t move until Grella leaves though, which is making this into quite a bit of a mess.

Two other players we are linked with as replacements for Grella are Romanian midfielders Ovidiu Petre and Florin Lovin, both of whom play for Steaua Bucharest. I must confess I know little about Lovin other than that his name reminds me of the character McLovin from Superbad. I haven’t quite decided whether that’s good or bad. Petre however is an established Romanian international who has competed and scored in the Champions League with Steaua and won a Turkish Cup during his time at Galatasaray. He’d be a valuable addition to the Torino squad and fill the hole left by Grella’s replacement. Hell, I’d even take him over Pinzi.

Back to our striker issue, if we don’t get Bianchi the name widely linked to us is one followers of South American football might recognize, Lucas Barrios. He is an Argentine forward that has been prolific in the Chilean league with Cobreola and Colo Colo, though he had a forgettable spell at Atlas Guadalajara in between. He is 23 years old so can definitely develop, though in my mind he is much more of a risk than Bianchi, a proven Serie A goalscorer, though he would probably cost less. We wanted Denis back in January when he said he could be our Batistuta, we screwed that up, so maybe we have another shot at a South American forward that can score us loads of goals. Who knows? At the very least he appears to be a good dribbler, as evidenced by this goal (unfortunately I couldn’t find any goal compilations):

Lastly, we’re linked with Ascoli fantasista Stefano Guberti. He had a fairly solid season in Serie B last year and has got a few Serie A games under his belt. At 23, he’s young, definitely a backup to Rosina. I couldn’t see him starting many games, but if we get him we could probably loan him out to a lower ranked Serie A team or back to Serie B. I’m a bit cautious about this transfer especially as we might be sending Tomasso Vailatti, a midfielder I’ve always rated but has never broken into the squad, to Le Marche in return, and frankly I’d rather keep Vailatti.

Other News

-Ignazio Abate’s official presentation is Monday, as right after we signed him he was whisked away to the Olympics. However, there are reports that the player is injured, which would certainly put a damper at the presentation. Abate pulled up with the injury as he gave the ball away to Belgium in Italy’s Olympic quarterfinal match, which eventually led to the winning goal and elimination for Italy. What is strange about this report is that there is nothing from the Torino or Italy medical staff, just the player’s assessment. I really hope Ignazio recovers, because he has the potential to be instrumental this season.

-This coming Saturday we will face Brescia at home in the Coppa Italia. They scraped past Serie C1 side Foligno 2-1 earlier today. Despite this result, they are a tough side and definitely one of the contenders for Serie B this season. They have playmaker Domenico Morfeo and striker Andrea Caracciolo to provide an offensive threat. They are also a club of interest to me as American starlet Danny Szetela plays for them in central midfielder and could feature on Saturday, replacing Lima who left Brescia for my local team, the San Jose Earthquakes.

-For those of you who don’t know, there is a Torino FC channel on YouTube, with highlights, press conferences, and various other Toro-related video news. It says unofficial channel in the title although the videos are all from the Torino website (though they work considerably better on YouTube).

-Cesare Natali returned to training on Saturday after a long pre-season injury playoff. He will most likely miss the Coppa Italia tie against Brescia, though he should be fit for the Serie A opener. A relief too, as he is probably the best defender in our squad.

-Our final friendly will be away to Swiss second division side Lugano on August 19. What the hell? We were supposed to have a squad presentation at the Olimpico that day. Instead we travel to beat up on some lame Swiss-Italian team, which will be of no use at all in giving us proper preparation. The last time that the Toro management didn’t do a squad presentation was after the disastrous 2003-2004 season. Is Cairo really that afraid that the squad is that bad? I’ve had it up to my neck with him.

As always, comments and constructive criticisms are appreciated!