Torino are through to the next round of the Coppa Italia after a narrow 1-0 win over Lega Pro side Figline. As commentators appropriately noted, it is the Toro of August, as we are still in many ways getting ready for the league campaign ahead. Rolando Bianchi scored the only goal of the match, assisted by David Di Michele, making his competitive debut after a loan spell in England. We also saw true Toro debuts from Simone Loria and Nicolás Gorobsov, who both started, and our most recent signing, Massimo Loviso, who replaced the latter early in the second half.

Highlights:

There is not much else to say about this match. It felt more like a pre-season friendly than anything else and although we only scored one goal, we never had to put our foot on the gas and generally looked comofortable with very few opportunities worth noting for Figline. However, we have a much trickier match coming up this Friday, away to Livorno in the Third Round. (The match was pushed up from Saturday for TV.) The winner of that tie will play the winner of Sampdoria-Lecce.

On the transfer side of things there is not much to note. There is a possibility that Palermo will make a new bid for Dzemaili while the papers are saying Milan and Shakhtar are also interested. I think there is still a good chance Dzemaili could stay here but would not be surprised if he left. Foschi and Cairo want to keep him but know that if they can get a good price for him now would be better as he is fresh off of a solid Serie A campaign despite Toro’s relegation. Palermo are also possibly interested in Matteo Rubin.

The big transfer out is that Simone Barone, who joined Toro after his World Cup win in 2006 has left the club for Cagliari for a sum of €1 million. While that is fairly inexpensive, I feel that it is a fair valuation considering that although he is a good player, he is not the same player that played 16 times for the Nazionale and hoisted the trophy in Berlin and is now 31. His performances over the years have ranged from solid to below average and considering the room this frees up in the wage bill, especially now that we are in Serie B it is a move that makes sense. While a good player, he has perhaps not delivered as much as we thought he would and is a component of the team that we can afford to replace. Nonetheless, ciao Simone, and thank you for your three years of dedicated service.

Coming into Torino in a move not coincidentally related to Barone’s departure is Livorno center-mid Massimo Loviso. The player comes in on a co-ownership deal worth €900,000. For this sum we are getting a midfielder with many of the same traits as Barone but at 25 years old has considerably more upside and potential. He has Serie A experience with Bologna from 2002 to 2005 and also played a season with them in Serie B. A season long loan to Serie C side Sambenedettese saw him establish himself as a first-team regular there before he was sold to Livorno where he played regularly for the first team over two seasons in Serie A and Serie B, going down with them and them helping them right back up. Over his career so far he has made 145 professional starts, scoring 9 goals and also appearing 6 times for the Azzurrini. He is a player that can definitely do the job in Serie B, has potential to improve, and should fill the gap left by Barone’s departure quite nicely. Benevenuti al Toro, Massimo!

Also worth noting in the transfer market is that an already long saga in the possible departure of Dzemaili to Palermo could go on plenty longer. The two clubs have failed to reach a deal as Cairo has stated that he is planning on keeping the Swiss midfielder in Turin unless Palermo can make a good enough offer, which has not happened as of yet. Meanwhile, Dzemaili has stated that he is happy to continue playing for Torino right now and is preparing for tomorrow’s Coppa Italia match against Figline.

On that note, it is worth mentioning that we play our first competitive match tomorrow. Torino will take on Figline in the Second Qualifying Round of the Coppa Italia. AS Figline come from Figline Valdarno, a town of about 17,000 people in Tuscany, near Florence. They have spent most of their 40+ year history bouncing around the amateur leagues of Italian football before earning promotion to Serie C2 at the end of the 2007-2008 season and then going on to win the renamed Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Girone B and the Supercoppa of the Lega Pro 2 last season, earning them a spot in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione for this season, the highest the club has ever ascended in the Italian football pyramid. Figline defeated fellow third division side Pergocrema away to reach this round. The only recognizable player in Figline’s squad is Enrico Chiesa, a name recognizable to any fan of Italian football. Although Chiesa is now 38 years old, he is still certainly an attacking threat. Lastly, despite the fact that the tie is a home match, it will not be played in Torino due to the unavailability of the Stadio Olimpico. Instead it will be played in the nearby town of Ivrea at the 3,500 capacity Stadio Gino Pistoni, which is also home to the town’s Lega Pro 2 team. The change of venue does have some upsides as despite the fact we are not in Torino, we are nearby and should be able to fill it up whereas I could forsee a fairly empty-looking Stadio Olimpico for this type of match. This is a match we should definitely win but we will need to do a professional job. It will also be worth watching what kind of lineup Colantuono will field with the various signings and departures. The winner of this tie will play Livorno in the Third Qualifying Round.

Now, I am off to see Barcelona take on Chivas in San Francisco. Also, apologies for the formatting issues. I will look into make this more visually pleasing in the days to come.

A note to the readers: I cannot figure out how to get the pictures to display nicely. Can anyone with the know-how in Word Press give me some advice? Thanks!

Option 1: Matteo Brighi

Former Juve and Chievo midfielder now at Roma. He was widely considered to be the next big thing in Italian football, but it never quite panned out for him. He is behind Pizarro, De Rossi, and Aquilani in the pecking order with the giallorossi and could be tempted to leave for guaranteed first team football, with Torino and former club Chievo being the two most likely clubs to secure his signature. Despite the fact that he never really lived up to expectations, he is a solid all-around midfielder that would certainly boost Toro’s midfield play. However, after a few days of speculation his agent said that he will stay at Roma, but we can only wait until the end of the market to find out.

Option 2: Massimo Mutarelli

The 30 year-old midfielder has been having a torrid time at Lazio recently, failing to break into the first team after struggling all last season with injury. Despite this his a hard-working midfielder that can break up plays and has decent passing ability. If he were to stay fit and in-form he would certainly be able to fill the gap left by Vince Grella’s departure to Blackburn. He is looking for a way out of Lazio and Torino has expressed their interest. Although it was initially rumored that World Cup winning midfielder Simone Barone would be headed the other way as part of the deal, it seems that Torino would rather pay in cash, which is still a viable alternative.

Option 3: Fabio Firmani

Another Lazio midfielder who’s had a tough time in the past few years. He is very similar to Mutarelli in that he is very hard working and has good defensive abilities. However, I do not rate his attacking game too highly and since we do not have too many creative options it might be nice to have a midfielder that can step in and take that role if needed. After all, Abate is injured for the beginning of the season, Corini is pushing 40, and Rosina can be brilliant but is also notoriously inconsistent. Still, he wouldn’t be the worst option, especially if we were able to get someone else with more creative abilities.

Option 4: Ovidiu Petre

The Steaua Bucharest midfielder and Romanian international seemed to be the perfect fit for Torino a week or two ago. A well-rounded midfielder with Champions League and international experience who is fairly young (26, I believe) and wouldn’t be too cheap. Torino were offering €1 million while Steaua wanted €2 million. It seemed a deal could be reached but then Steaua qualified for the group stage of the Champions League and raised their asking price to €10 million, well out of Toro’s price range. It seems Toro are still looking for a deal, but it is now unlikely.

Option 5: Mark Edusei

Ghanian midfielder Mark Edusei has been linked with a return to Torino over the past few weeks after Walter Zenga made it clear he is not in the first-team plans at Catania. Edusei played for Toro in the 2005-2006 ‘rebuilding’ season and made some important contributions in helping us secure promotion back to Serie A. After that season though, Edusei left for Catania and although he initially played an important role in the team’s midfield he struggled with injury. His last appearance for Catania was in the first leg of the team’s Coppa Italia semifinal against Roma. Edusei is a decent midfielder who isn’t great on the ball but can pass and defend reasonably well. If he came to Toro it would certainly be as a backup and probably not as a replacement for Grella. The good news is that he could be available for peanuts, making him a smart backup choice.

Option 6: Cristian Ledesma

The chances of Toro securing Argentine regista Cristian Ledesma are slim, but he has nonetheless been linked to us by Gazzetta dello Sport. Ledesma would be a huge addition to our midfield with excellent passing ability and the capability to track back if necessary. However, I have not seen many credible news articles linking him to us and the asking price would probably be very steep considering he seems to be part of Delio Rossi’s first-team plans at Lazio this season. Very unlikely that he would come, but would certainly be a welcome signing.

Option 7: Blerim Dzemaili

This Macedonian-born Swiss international currently plays for Bolton in the Premier League though he has so far failed to break into the first team, partly as a result of injury struggles. Nonetheless, he is a capable midfielder who was a part of the Swiss World Cup squad in 2006. Also, at age 22 he has a long career ahead of him and if he develops properly he could be a solid acquisition for us. Furthermore, he is available for under €1 million meaning he would certainly be within our price range and could represent good value for money. Speculation has cooled off in the past day or two but he could still make the move.

Option 8: Alexander Tettey

The Ghanian-born Norwegian international has attracted the interest of numerous clubs after a series of strong performances for his Norwegian club Rosenborg. He is a defensive midfielder, but other than that I don’t know a whole lot about him. Doesn’t seem like the most likely candidate out of the nine profiled here to come to the Olimpico, but I will keep myself open to his arrival in Turin. Rosenborg are asking €2 million for him.

Option 9: Stephen Appiah

Added to my list as I was writing this, but Stephan Appiah has been linked with a return to Turin, this time possibly with Torino. After leaving the flies for Fenerbahçe in Turkey, Appiah had a fantastic first season. However, a series of bungles by the Fenerbahçe medical staff left Appiah injured and unable to play despite having surgery and extensive recuperation time. It turns out that Appiah had life-threatening blood clots in his legs that weren’t discovered until he went to Italy for treatment. He rescinded his contract with Fenerbahçe in the spring and is now a free agent. He has since recovered from his affliction and has been training with Brescia. He could move back to Turin, both i gobbi and ourselves have now been linked with him. His family already lives in Turin, which would provide a significant boost for his chances to return there. Although he is ex-Juve, he could be tempted by the promise of first-team football at Torino whereas across the city he would be fourth or fifth choice in the central midfield. The fact that he is a free agent could make this a truly bargain signing if Cairo and Pederzoli were to pull it off and would certainly going a long ways towards repairing the relations between the management and fans.

Who will it be?

That’s a good question. I’m going to rate 1-10 the chances of these players coming with 1 being very unlikely and 10 being very likely:

Brighi – 6
Mutarelli – 8
Firmani – 6
Petre – 4
Edusei – 6
Ledesma – 2
Dzemaili – 5
Tettey – 5
Appiah – 6

My guess? By the end of the transfer window we will probably have Mutarelli and Edusei – though a pair of Ghanians, Appiah and Edusei would be out of the question.

Overall, the game with Brescia was a bit disappointing. Torino youth product Davide Possanzini put Brescia in the lead after making Matteo Sereni look like a fool and Azzurrini ‘keeper Viviano kept our strikers at bay. However, things started to turn around in the second half and Toro equalized through a Rosina penalty after a streaking Di Michele was brought down in the area by Viviano. Largely thanks to the heroics of Viviano, Toro required extra time to secure the victory despite playing with a numerical advantage thanks to Zambelli’s sending off for two bookable offenses. The winner was a thing of beauty though, with Rosina playing a cheeky exchange with Di Michele before threading it through to Stellone, who used the deftest of touches to set up DDM to blast home.

Torino-Brescia highlights:

The Mercato

Bianchi’s here! After being linked with us since January, Rolando Bianchi has finally joined Toro, putting an end to months of speculation. Although he initially angered Toro fans by snubbing the club for Lazio, he seems to have made amends with them, getting a rather warm reception from the Curva Maratona before the Brescia game and explaining his choice to go to Lazio over Torino in January. What’s also great about the deal is that even though we are paying a fairly big sum for him (a fair sum though) is that Bianchi is making financial sacrifices not only to play for Toro but to help the club out with the transfer fee. Furthermore, from what I’ve heard he is a genuinely nice guy off the pitch, so I’m glad to have him at Toro. Benevenuto Rolando!

Since this is a post about Torino F.C., there has to be one requisite piece of bad news, hence the title. This weekend’s news is that Coppa hero David Di Michele (now known in Turin as Decisivo Di Michele) wants to leave Turin. I know I’ve pondered about a Di Michele-Brighi swap but last night we got to see the Di Michele that Cairo made a big investment for last summer. He looked like he had something to prove with Bianchi coming in and although it could get crowded in attack he could be a valuable asset to the squad if he plays like he did against Brescia.

One more week until the Serie A starts and we are now looking for a midfielder and a defender to round out the squad. We are still linked with Mutarelli and I wouldn’t count out a Di Michele-Brighi swap quite yet. As for the defense though, I and the media have little idea about who will be brought in. We haven’t been seriously linked to a defender since Pratali came in.

What is not likely to impress the fans/La Gazzetta is that Vincenzo Grella is having trouble agreeing to personal terms with Blackburn after the two clubs agreed on a €5 million free thus prolonging an already agonizing saga. Don’t get me wrong, I like Grella, he’s a solid player, but ultimately if we sell him we can have a more balanced, financially sound, and ultimately more rewarding mercato. Nevertheless, he’s been given a squad number and was called for the Brescia game tomorrow. Lastly in transfer rumors, rumors have been flying around about a Brighi-Di Michele swap with Roma. I would welcome Brighi into the squad, he is a good player who would certainly improve our midfield. Furthermore, if we’re getting Bianchi then we have even less reason to keep Di Michele and should cash in on him before he manages to miss even more sitters.

Squad Numbers

Squad numbers have been assigned for the forthcoming season and looking at them gives one some interesting insight into what GDB is thinking for this season:

1. Sereni Matteo
3. Pisano Marco Giovanni
5. Corini Eugenio
6. Ogbonna Obinze Angelo
7. Ventola Nicola
8. Barone Simone
9. Abbruscato Elvis
10. Rosina Alessandro
11. Amoruso Nicola
13. Grella Vincenzo
14. Natali Cesare
17. Di Michele David
18. Malonga Dominique
19. Diana Aimo Stefano
21. Franceschini Ivan
22. Di Loreto Marco
23. Abate Ignazio
24. Saumel Jurgen
27. Zanetti Paolo
28. Vailatti Tommaso
30. Stellone Roberto
31. Fontana Alberto Maria
32. Colombo Riccardo
33. Rubin Matteo
40. Moro Marco
50. Pratali Francesco
99. Calderoni Alex

Obviously a lower number (closer to 1 being lower) doesn’t guarantee alot of playing time, though I was certainly surprised about Angelo Ogbonna receiving number six. For those of you who don’t know much about Ogbonna, he is a 20 year-old Italian of Nigerian heritage who came up through Toro’s youth system and played last season on loan at Crotone in Serie C1. He has impressed in preseason, but both the media and I expected him to be loaned out to Serie B. Instead, he is wearing the number six for Toro and hopefully he will do well with it. Interestingly enough, Grella has a squad number. A potential indicator of him staying? Possibly. No two or four given out, so perhaps we will see a right-back and center-back arrivein the coming week, though right now we need to focus on getting a striker.

These summer weekends can often seem long and tedious to the average calcio fan, full of meaningless friendlies and ridiculous transfer rumors, but luckily for us granata fans there is plenty for us to wrap our heads around. That’s right, a meaningful(ish) friendly and not-so-ridiculous transfer rumors!

First off, we traveled to London on Saturday to play Fulham in what will probably be our most testing friendly (perhaps we should start looking for better opposition?). Went down 2-0 despite having most of the play and lo and behold, we could not finish! However, Abbruscato scored a left-footed volley and youngster Ogbonna added a second late on to stage a superb comeback. Although we probably should have won this 4-2, one positive that can be taken away from it is that we have some solid fitness levels throughout the squad. Both of our goals came late on, which says something about the athletic preparation we’ve been going through. Now GDB has a couple weeks to teach our players how to score goals against teams that are not local Sunday League sides.

Speaking of local Sunday league sides, the day we returned from London we crushed the local side from Sommarrivo Perna 11-0 fielding the players that didn’t play the full 90 minutes against Fulham. Abbruscato, Di Michele, Stellone, and Ventola all scored braces, while Franceschini, Malonga, and Vailatti rounding out the scoring. We face Ivrea on Wednesday to finish out our preseason.

Fulham-Torino Highlights:

Also, Ignazio Abate again came on as a sub for the Olympic team, replacing Sebastian Giovinco in the 77th minute and made the tackle that started the move ending in Montolivo’s goal. Solid.

The Wide World of Transfers

-Salvatore Lanna has left Torino for Bologna in a co-ownership deal. This is good as neither GDB or myself saw any need for him when we have two better left-backs in Marco Pisano and Matteo Rubin.

-Our loan bid for Bianchi failed, as apparently Manchester City want a little more compensation than we were ready to offer. It is rumored in the Italian press that we will make another bid for him this week and that Genoa is also preparing to offer €3.5 million to get Bianchi on a permanent basis. If we lose this bid for him, I will fly back to Turin and give Cairo, Pederzoli & Co. a piece of my mind and maybe my boot as well.

-We have been linked with Argentine defender Alexis Ferrero. Who, you ask? I was asking the same question, though apparently he’s not half bad. Ferrero is 29 years old and currently plays with the Rio club Botafogo in the Brazilian Série A. He can play both right and center back, is solid at defense, and can push up to help the attack occasionally. He spent many years in the Argentine lower divisions before helping Tigre gain promotion to the Argentine First Division and went on to be a crucial part of the side that finished second in the 2007 Apertura, Tigre’s best ever finish. He earned a move to Botafogo this past January where he has supposedly impressed. It seems to me like he can’t be any worse than Colombo and would allow us more flexibility in our defensive choices, so as long as he’s not too expensive, I would say go for it!

-David Di Michele is rumored to be on his way out of Turin. He was left out of the squad for Fulham, ostensibly for injury reasons, but word in the media is that a number of Spanish clubs are interested in him as well as Wigan and Nantes. This of course is contingent on us bringing in a new, better striker (preferably one that could hit the broad side of a barn).

Comotto lashes out

Former Toro defender and captain Gianluca Comotto has lashed out at his former club. He does not have any problems with the club, the manger, or his former teammates, but with the way the club is being run. I know I will catch some flak for this, but I agree with Comotto. I’m waiting to reserve final judgement until the mercato is over, but right now I would say our management is not doing a great job at running this club. They haven’t followed through after stating ambitions of a European place (which is probably out of the question this season considering the strength of teams like Napoli, Genoa, and Samp). Thank you Gianluca, for saying what I feel many fans are thinking. Maybe this can provide a little extra incentive for the upper management of the club to get their asses in gear.

Everyone’s been asking me what I want for my birthday tomorrow and I’ve got no idea what to tell them. I have plenty of books to read, enough DVDs, and I’ve outgrown computer games (except for a healthy dose of Football Manager every now and again – sometimes I feel that’s the only way we’ll ever be in the Champions League). So, besides setting myself up for a bevy of cash and gift cards from relatives, I decided what I’d really like for my birthday is to end some of these summer transfer sagas.

Cairo has apparently made an offer for Bianchi, €1.5 million for a season-long loan with a yet to be disclosed amount to make the deal permanent at the end of the season. Pozzi is now leaning towards Bologna, which would be fine with me only if we got Bianchi. I don’t wish injury upon any player though I have to say it would be…interesting…if Bologna end up paying €10 million for Pozzi and he gets injured for half the season. Besides, Bianchi and Amoruso scored 35 goals together in the 2006-2007 season and were the reason Reggina survied despite their massive 15 point penalty. Now I ask you…how many goals did Toro score last season? The answer: 36. The year before that? 31. And these two men, one of whom we already have and the other of whom we’re close to can score 35 in a season? Yes please! Furthermore, Amoruso has said he would love to play with Bianchi again.

Besides, this guy has an instinct for goal. Not a whole lot of flair and tricks, but he is a powerful striker that gets the job done:

You can also see a goal or two from the Bianchi-Amoruso pairing. I know he turned down Toro to join Lazio in the winter and that has not endeared him to many Toro fans, but he has said he’s still interested in Toro and that he would love to play for Toro’s fans and win them over, which is just fine with me. We all make mistakes, Rolando.

Also, Grella out and Pinzi in! Grella has been average this season, Pinzi is available and an upgrade and we’ll probably make money on it considering Fulham are willing to pay in the region of €4-5 million for him. What is there to lose?

Other news and musings:

-Veteran defender Marco Di Loreto says we have to start well to have a good season. Part of me wants to say ‘no s**t Sherlock’. In all seriousness though its true. The last two seasons we have failed to record a win until the 6th (06-07) and 7th (07-08) rounds of the season. Considering three of our opponents in the first four rounds are Lecce, Chievo, and Reggina, we should just give up if we can’t win against one of those teams.

-Striker Sasa Bjelanovic has been loaned to Vicenza with an option for them to buy him at the end of the year. Thanks for taking him off our hands! Ten starts, nine sub appearances and not a single goal, no wonder we’re failing to score with players like this in our squad.

-Defender Matteo Melara has left Torino by mutual consent. He was back with the club after spending last season on loan at Livorno helping them get relegated. Not Torino quality, but mille grazie Matteo for helping us out of Serie B.

-We play Fulham on Sunday in what is probably our toughest preseason test (though we are still playing ‘TBA’ on August 19). Should be a good test for the boys as Fulham have strengthened this season as they prepare for another ‘Great Escape’. Sounds an awful lot like Toro, no? Hopefully I’ll also get to see Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey in action for Fulham and I do follow the US national team with some interest.

-The Olympics started last night (I think – this time zone difference really throws me for a loop). Our only player featuring there is Ignazio Abate who got thirty minutes in Italy’s 3-0 trashing of Honduras and made a decent impact coming off the bench. Woohoo! I hope this kid can thrive at Toro this season, I’m hoping he and Rosina will provide some good service now that we have a striker that can score ten goals a season.

Hello all,

I’m Nick and I’ll be taking over the Toro blog. First off I want to thank Daryl and Chris for letting me take over this blog, its a pleasure to be able to write about the team I love in a community like this.

Just a few quick words about myself, I have followed football since watching the 1994 World Cup where I quickly fell in love with Roberto Baggio and the Italy squad who would eventually break my young heart that scorching day in Pasadena. My tortured love affair with Toro began four years later (after a short and forgettable period in which I possessd a Juve shirt) when my parents decided it would be fun to see a match while we were on a family vacation in Italy. I saw Marco Ferrante score two goals to lead Toro to a 2-0 upset over Milan and I was in love. For the past ten years I lived through the few ups and many downs the team has experienced but at the same time developed an unrequitted love for this once great team, now down on its luck, that I hope will get its act together.

Now it’s time to cut sappy stuff as there’s business to be taken care of.

Its August 2008 and we’re less than four weeks away from the Serie A kickoff. In other words, Lecce will be at the Olimpico on August 31 and by that time we will have to field a team capable of confidently beating them. Easy, right? Not until the management sorts out a few issues. First of all, word around town (I recently got back from a six week trip to Italy) is that the upper level management (Cairo and our new ds Mauro Pederzoli) are not exactly on the same page as Gianni De Biasi and the squad. It seems De Biasi has a concrete idea of what he wants to do and the type of player he needs. Cairo has a different idea of this but as has become painfully obvious, Cairo cannot run the football club on his own. Time and again he has undermined the ability of our various directors of sport (currently Pederzoli) and taken matters into his own hands despite a limited knowledge of the complex workings of the Italian mercato. You see names like Corvino, Pier Paolo Marino, etc. in the news, whereas Pederzoli is never in the news talking about Toro’s transfer dealings, its always Cairo. Don’t get me wrong, I have a massive respect for him due to what he’s done for this club, but he can’t do it all on his own. He has received (just) criticism from both De Biasi and Alessandro Rosina on this point after he has lagged behind in getting things done this summer. We have come a long ways from the controversies of one month ago, but we should get our act together and close up some of these summer-long transfer sagas.

The first player we have been talking about all summer is Nicola Pozzi. The Empoli striker is clearly talented and his club seem to realize this having stuck on an absurd €10 million price tag on him. (Raised from €6 million and then €7.5 million.) Pozzi is good, perhaps worth €6-7 million, but certainly not as much as Empoli are asking. What club in their right mind would pay €10 million for a young striker who has shown glimpses of goalscoring talent but has spent the last six months recovering from a serious injury? Empoli clearly want to keep Pozzi although he has stated his desire to play in Serie A. This leads us to our other desired striker: Rolando Bianchi.

Bianchi has been linked with our club in the previous two transfer campaigns before leaving for Manchester City last summer and Lazio on loan from the aforementioned club in the winter transfer window. This time, it actually seems as if we are favorites for him. In my mind Bianchi is definitely a talented striker and he showed that at Reggina. He is considered a flop at Man City and I agree to a certain extent but he was also able to score a few goals there. He had a mixed experience at Lazio though with Rocchi and Pandev ahead of him he didn’t get enough chances. Back to the deal at hand though it seems like the deal Toro will press ahead with is a loan deal with each club paying part of his massive wages. We would have a right to make the deal permanent at the end of season. Cairo has said he will only go for a loan, so hopefully City are cool with it.

Also, we are close to Udinese’s Giampiero Pinzi, who I frankly see as an ideal replacement for Grella should he complete his rumored move to Fulham. It seems Salvatore Lanna is also close to leaving with the left-back’s destination apparently at Bologna. Fine with me, Lanna was unimpressive last season and I’d rather give time to young Matteo Rubin who will be a stud, mark my words.

That’s all for now! Comments appreciated!

PS – Apologies for the length of the post, I’ll try and keep it shorter next time.

So Torino has that whole “can’t score goals” thing going on for them right now, despite having guys with some decent talent. Maybe they decided to quit while they were ahead after the Parma game. Or maybe the only way this team is going to score goals these days is by having four strikers on the pitch. A novelty of sorts which I’m fully in the camp of….once they assure safety. Until then it’s going to have to be some good old straight-forward striking.

Next year, however, is another matter. Chances are pretty decent they’ll stay in Serie A, as they’ve proven that they can even hang with some of the big fellas (wins over Sampdoria & Palermo, draws with Palermo, Roma & Milan), so there may be some surprise happenings in the final weeks. The schedule isn’t wonderful, but they should be able to outlast Cagliari, Empoli and Reggina at the least.

There’s a mighty good possibility Alvaro Recoba will be gone next year (yes, now you) – and I have nothing to back that up beside the fact that he hasn’t scored since September coupled with pure logic – and one or two of Ventola, Di Michele or Bjelanovic may be sold (the latter two almost going to Roma in January at the deadline – why Bjelanovic nobody knows, his strike rate is abysmal). Stellone seems entrenched, and I hope he stays – he’s got some deceptive qualities despite looking like a wrecking ball in boots – and Dominique Malonga may be ready a lot sooner than anticipated. Or maybe that’s wishful hoping. Or thinking. Oh yeah, and then there’s Masashi Oguro, whose Torino highlight has been his wikipedia page:

Oguro owns a chihuahua named Rao. He is a fan of the manga Fist of the North Star. He loves the card game Uno, and has been appointed a “Uno Ambassador”. When he is excited and wants to get attention on the field, he yells “UNO!” He is a fan of the Hanshin Tigers.

If that doesn’t make your day, I don’t know what will. No word on whether or not he owns a Ms. Kitty purse too, but from here on out, Oguro will be known as Uno! in this realm of the universe. Hooray for obsessive Japanese reporting.

Anywho, in January Toro had nearly lined up this German guy from Denis playing in Argentina. Or a guy named German Denis from Argentina. One of the two. Deal fell through due to “minor details”, and now he’s saying he’d love love LOVE to come play for Torino next year and do all sorts of fanciful Argentinian things. Namely score goals. Word has it he’s a very physical forward (as you can see from his google images pic) playing currently for Independiente in Argentina, led the Apertura is gols last (half)season and made his national team debut for the Argies just last fall. Oh, and he wants to be “Torino’s Batistuta”. Well shit, bring him on.

Here’s what his highlights say: predatory instincts. And quite frankly, that’s all the Granata really need. They don’t need fancy – they just need someone to put some freakin’ goals into the back of the net consistently. Even though there’s no rumored price tag associated, given that he’s both the goal leader and an Argie international, it’s hard to believe he’ll come cheap. Hey, no price is too high to pay for a year of unquestioned safety. Worry about the rest afterwards.

His highlights, set to a very questionable sountrack: