The team lost their Coppa Italia Third Round match in Livorno this weekend by a score of 2-0. Despite the scoreline there are plenty of positives to be taken from the match. For much of the game we were the equal of the newly promoted Serie A side and I strongly believe that if we can improve our finishing touch from what we showed today we can easily challenge for the Serie B title. A few points from watching my crappy quality stream as I wait for the full match to finish downloading:

So, although one can never be too happy with a loss to beat ourselves up over it would be a bad reaction to a game that was more of a measuring stick than anything of actual worth.

Transfer Tidbits

Transfer-wise we have some interesting rumors surfacing. The first and most exciting in my opinion regards this guy:

Éder Citadin Martins, Éder for short or “Éder-gol” as he has been dubbed by Frosinone fans is rumored to be the subject of a megabid (by Serie B standards) from Torino. The purported figure is somewhere between €3 million and €3.3 million. Éder is regarded by some pundits in Italy as “the next Kaká” and indeed bears a resemblance to his superstar countryman, at least in his style of play. An attacking mid with pace and goalscoring ability, Éder has been a star in Serie B the past year and a half playing for Frosinone and could fill the gap left by Rosina. This summer he came back to Empoli, the team who co-owned him but if the rumors play out he might not play a game for the empolesi as he could move to Toro. This transfer could add a real punch to our attack, especially if we sell some of our forwards (Abbruscato and Amoruso, namely) and he will certainly find his way to Serie A sometime soon, so why not with us? He may be a little on the pricey side, but with the money we have made from transfers I think he is not out of our reach.

If we don’t land Éder another popular transfer rumor these days is a swap with Reggina: Elvis Abbruscato for Franco Brienza, which would be a steal for us, IMO. Abbruscato is a good Serie B player, but Brienza is an effective Serie A player who could also provide a ton of creativity in the attack to replace the loss of Rosina. Parma is the latest rumored destination for Nick Amoruso while Dominique Malonga could move on loan to newly-promoted Ligue 1 side Boulogne, where he could gain some valuable experience.

Regarding the Dzemaili saga, Cairo and Foschi have frozen negotiations with Palermo for the time being and are now saying that Dzemaili will stay at Toro. The player himself is happy to stay, but many suggest it is a bluff to increase the price for Dzemaili, especially with Napoli now entering the race to sign him. Blerim is a player I’d hate to lose, but if we can milk this transfer for a lot of cash then I could be OK with it.

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.

We all know the details of Torino’s relegation all too well. Too many opportunities to win at home squandered, most notably the 1-1 draw against Bologna and the direction of our season summed up perfectly by that ugly 2-3 loss at home to Genoa that resulted in a number of bans which in turn contributed to the 2-3 loss at Roma, ending our season. There was some disgusting behavior from some of our players and that illustrated a lot of the pent up frustration within the locker room and the team in general.

Moving on from the ugly incidents last season we now have to deal with some ugly goings on this summer. Cairo has been continually at odds with the fans, accused of gross incompetence in running the club. While it must always be remembered that he saved the club from oblivion four summers ago and helped us back into Serie A beyond that he has done very little. He is demonstrated a complete lack of football knowledge, much naivety in the transfer market and an continuing tendency to meddle in the affairs of the team when such things should be left to the manager or the director of football. Speaking of which his continual impatience with managers places him second to Zamparini in the crazy owner department.

It is a wonder then, why Stefano Colantuono, a man very much the victim of Zamparini’s chopping and changing, would agree to work for Urbano Cairo. Nonetheless he is here and it is one of the few Toro-related things this summer that I am excited about. Here we have a promising young manager whose career was derailed at Palermo. He led Perugia to the promotion playoffs in 2005 where they were defeated by none other then our very own team (before both teams were busted down for financial issues) before he led Atalanta to promotion the very next season. One might recall that in 2006 we were not automatically promoted but had to suffer through playoffs. The team that won Serie B dominantly that season? Colantuono’s Atalanta. The following season, while we were struggling againt relegation despite much promise, Colantuono guided Atalanta to a very respectable seventh place in Serie A and earned himself a spot on the Palermo bench. After some promising results at Palermo he was sacked by Zamparini after a 5-0 defeat to i ladri only to be put back in charge when Palermo was going nowhere better without him, only to be sacked again just a few games into last season.

I hope that Colantuono can be given a fair shot at Torino because he has the potential to be one of the best trainers we have seen in recent years. After so much mediocrity among our old stiff managers Colantuono has the promise tobe a breath of fresh air. If he can replicate his achievments with Atalanta or even some of his results with Palermo (barring the 5-0 of course) then we could be in for a good ride, especially with Rino Foschi remaining at the club (he had said he would leave should the club be relegated), but first we have to build the team to get us out of Serie B. Apart from Foschi, Colantuono and their staff at the helm the team is undergoing a bit of a makeover.

Addio

Firstly some of the familiar faces have disappeared, none so recognizable as Alessandro Rosina. Obviously Rosinaldo has been the face of the club for the past four years. However, I think that Rosina in many ways has represented the fate of the club. Loads of promise, a few glimpses of brilliance but ultimately a letdown. Just as he is off to new beginnings at Zenit St. Petersburg, a club that won a small place in my heart for their 2007-8 UEFA Cup campaign and 2008 Super Cup victory over Man U. Although I am sad to see him go, it is ultimately the best move for the club from a financial standpoint considering the €7.8 million transfer fee and the room this frees up in our wage budget. It also gives us a clean slate in many senses as we can live without the expectations he brings and the controversy he has shown he can carry with him. Ciao, Alessandro, you will will be missed. Buona fortuna in San Pietroburgo!

Also departing, unsurprisingly is Ignzaio Abate, who returns to Milan for €3.25 million after his one year of co-ownership at in Turin. The staff there clearly see a purpose for him this season, even if it is off the bench and he is in all likelihood too good for Serie B and needs time in Serie A to cement his place as one of Italian football’s rising stars. He was one of the better performers last season so it is naturally sad to see him go, but I wish him the best of luck in his future career. Perhaps we will see him again at Toro, who knows? He has a bright future ahead of him.

The last major piece of the puzzle on their way out (so far) is Cesare Natali. While easily our best central defender he was oft-injured during his time here. He is off to Fiorentina for €2.2 million where he will back up Dario Dainelli and Alessandro Gamberini and join former Toro captain Gianluca Comotto. This is a disappointing loss but one of the inevitable ones that come with relegation, though I am fairly confident we can come, at least in Serie B.

Also on their way out are Marco Moro to Ascoli for €300,000 and Sasa Bjelanovic to Vicenza. Both players were on loan last season and clearly not part of the first team picture. Beyond that no sales have been made but of course rumors will abound until September 1st rolls around. Lastly, many players, including a number of familiar faces have been released after the end of their contract. Perhaps most notably Toro legend Eugenio Corini has retired. Although he was at the club for a relatively short period of time he worked his way into the hearts of many Toro fans and will be sorely missed. Also gone are Roberto Stellone (not sure on this one, I think he should have been kept around), Nicola Ventola (never really got going), Marco Di Loreto (average defender, we have better now), Ivan Franceschini (see Di Loreto, plus was frequently injured) and goalkeeper Alberto Maria Fontana (the only senior player to stay with Toro through the 2005 meltdown but had little to no chance at playing time – has moved to Novara, best of luck!). Also, Paolo Hernán Dellafiore returned to Palermo after his loan ended.

Blerim Dzemaili was acquired after his loan spell from Bolton but has been heavily linked to Palermo with a deal even being quasi-confirmed by Zamparini before being denied by Cairo. A swap deal with Fiorentina for ex-granata Franco Semioli has also been rumored but at the moment it looks like a deal with Palermo is the most likely option with Davide Succi possibly coming the other way. Dzemaili would be useful to have in Serie B and was a Toro fan favorite last season so I do hope he stays though I feel that Succi could also be a useful player. Other players rumored to be going are the obvious ones, namely Bianchi and Rubin but also possibly Sereni and Säumel.

Other possible transfers out: Calderoni (Brescia); Pratali (Livorno, Palermo); Rubin (Napoli, Palermo, Livorno); Barone (Livorno); Dzemaili (Palermo, Udinese); Zanetti (Livorno, Chievo); Amoruso (Parma); Malonga (Cittadella, Boulogne – this would most likely be a loan)

Welcome (back) to Toro!

On the other hand coming in we have a few loan returns including Davide Bottone from Vicenza and Dominique Malonga from Foggia. Nick Amoruso also returned from Siena but could now be on his way to Parma, unsurprising given his fallout with the club’s management in January. Bottone could have some role to play in the upcoming campaign, but it could be hard to see Malonga getting a shot, especially if Bianchi stays. The big name returning from loan though is David Di Michele coming back from an unspectacular spell at West Ham. Di Michele had some serious problems with the management, particularly Novellino and didn’t look like he had much of a future at the club. However, Colantuono has now made Di Michele the club captain given the departure of Rosina, a somewhat surprising move but one that indicates DDM will certainly be playing an important role in this campaign. He is a vastly talented but inconsistent player (similar to Rosina if not in playing style then at least in this sense) but I have a feeling he can eat Serie B alive if he is on form this season.

Our first summer acquisition aside from Dzemaili and the loan returns was that of Nicolás Gorobsov, a promising Argentine winger from Vicenza coming for €400,000. He worked his way into the Vicenza first team at the tender age of 19 and put in some solid performances for them. Fiorentina were rumored to sign him but we beat him to it. He has been compared to Joaquín and hopefully he will be a future star in the granata colors, but for now it looks like he will be relegated to a bench role.

Next up and probably our ‘biggest’ name signing is that of central defender Simone Loria from Roma on a free loan. While clearly not good enough for Roma, Loria can be a force in Serie B and will fill the gap left by Natali. I had questions when he was linked with us in January but now that events have transpired in this way, I think he is a fine signing.

Lastly, we have acquired Luca Belinghieri from Ascoli as part of the deal sending Marco Moro the other way, though we have also compenstaed Ascoli to the tune of €1.5 million. He is a 26 year-old center midfielder who has shone in Serie B and even has a little bit of Serie A experience with Como. He will be a fine addition to our midfield, epsecially if Dzemaili and/or Barone go on their way out and I look forward to seeing him in a Toro uniform.

A “definitive” list of rumored entries includes: Terranova (Palermo); Cerci (Roma); Iori (Cittadella); Loviso (Livorno); Migliaccio (Palermo); Morosini (Udinese); Pazienza (Napoli); Filipi (Ravenna); Succi (Palermo)

Clearly we are looking for more depth in the relatively thin central midfield area. Migliaccio, Pazienza, and Loviso would all be solid acquisitions while I don’t know much about Iori. Morosini would be OK but not the quality of the first three. In the attack Cerci would be a solid addition to add some speed and creativity. Succi could be a useful Serie B striker while I know little of Filipi. (I guess I should bone up on my lower Lega Pro knowledge.)

We have done rather well in the financial aspect of things, with good work from Foschi so far in his first summer mercato with Toro. With these signings and departures as well as a number of smaller ones we have received €13.25 million in transfer fees while only shelling out €1.9 million and maintaining a fairly strong squad, especially for Serie B. Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come from the management, who have come under serious fire from the fans (something I will discuss more in my next post).

With these transfers already done and assuming Dzemaili goes on his way to Palermo in exchange for Succi I could envision this lineup for Toro in Serie B:

———-Bianchi
—————Di Michele
Rubin-Säumel-Barone-Diana
-Pisano-Loria-Pratali-Rivalta
————Sereni

Bench: Calderoni, Ogbonna, Colombo, Belingheri, Vailatti, Gasbarroni, Succi

Right now we have plenty of depth and quality and look quite better than most all of the squads in Serie B. However as we Toro fans know all too well that does not always translate to success on the pitch (that and there is still plenty of time left in the mercato), but with Colantuono on the bench I think we can turn this quality into results and retain promotion immediately.

Tomorrow I will review Toro’s performance in the pre-season, our prospects in the coming season, discuss details of the problems Urbano Cairo is currently facing as chairman and discuss our first competitive match of the season, a Coppa Italia tie versus Lega Pro 1 side Figline.

Ladies and gentlemen,

These seem like bleak times for Torino. We have dropped points to all of our relegation rivals (though fortunately only one of those, that ugly 2-5 to Bologna, was a loss). We are currently sitting in 18th place, far off track of the “magic 40″ points that are necessary for survival.

We do have some reasons for optimism though. One of those reasons came in January when Cairo finally appointed a Director of Sport in Rino Foschi. This gives us hope in a number of ways. First of all he is a pretty good DS, having worked at Palermo and most recently Genoa where he orchestrated their successful transfer campaign this summer. Furthermore, he is fully committed to saving Torino from relegation. “How?” you may ask, especially considering that the transfer market is complete. The answer is that he is a figure in the management that the players can respect and are comfortable dealing with, as opposed to Cairo, who has done all he can to alienate our best players, most notably Rosina and Sereni. By providing an link between the team and the management, Foschi can can help improve the attitude of the players. I find it no coincidence that the morale in the dressing room has improved since Foschi’s appointment.

Another factor we have to take into consideration is Eugenio Corini. When Corini was out injured we had perhpas the worst spell of our season, the one that really led us to the troubles we are having now. “Il Genio” brings a certain dynamic to the team that no other player we have can bring. He is not only a natural leader, but a veteran with vast amounts of experience in his career. His legs may be going, but he’s still a very smart and technically skilled player. Having him on the pitch will give the players the confidence they need to start winning games they might draw and drawing games they might lose. He is pegged to start against Udinese this weekend and I cannot be more thankful.

The last factor is something that has been blogged about recently in the main blog. This is Mr. X, now revealed to the world as Raffaele Ciurcarriello, a wealthy Turin-based businessman and a lifelong Torino fan. (I am under the impression that Cairo too is a Toro fan, but the way he runs the club you wouldn’t know it.) He is prepared to offer €100 million for the club and is reportedly ready to spend plenty more in the transfer market. The €100 million figure is well above what it is worth and what Cairo acquired it for. However, Cairo being the stubborn fool that he is, has now said he won’t even talk to Ciurcarriello’s lawyers, making this a right pain. Mr. Cairo, if you love this team, then you need to let it go!

So, despite what the pundits may think, all is not lost. We can potentially turn our season around on Sunday against Udinese. (Unfortunately, I will be in transit at game time.) The Mr. X ordeal won’t get resolved before the end of the season, but should we survive we will have a great set-up with his money (and hopefully brains) as well as Foschi’s expertise on the market. Even if we go down perhaps it’ll persuade Cairo to realize that his project has failed and that it would be best to sell the club. Interesting times? I think so.

That being said, I will try to get something in soon.

I suppose it would be appropriate to recap what has gone on so far. In summary: not much that I would want to remember. Stunningly poor performances, getting assraped by the refs, and idiocy on the part of the higher ups.

As far as the poor performances go, we can put the blame on any number of things. The most obvious is the Gianni De Biasi is not a great coach. There, I said it. He can occasionally pull something out of his hat, but by and large he is doomed be a yo-yo coach for yo-yo teams. His tactics are uninspired and though its not been entirely his fault, he is misusing the players at his disposal. Yet with Toro it seems that he can win when it is absolutely necessary. He has twice saved us from relegation when a more “qualified” manager had our team going down the tubes and he is managing to keep his job despite being a defeat or two away from the axe. The problem is that the rest of the time (and usually even in winning) the team are dire. What we truly need is to not shell out money on players all the time (what has Bianchi been doing?) but on a good coach that we can tie down. Until them, we will just play with De Biasi’s loose grip on tactics and continue to perform poorly.

As for the refs, the simple question is, “What the fuck?” We have had three, count them THREE legitimate goals disallowed, two of which (Udinese and Samp) could have changed the course of the game at 0-0. Serie A has been rife with poor refereeing in the past few weeks. I think Byron Moreno has had offspring and sent them to terrorize Italian football fans yet again. Toro fans took the unusual step of sending an open letter to Collina complaining about refereeing mistakes while both Cairo and Marco Pisano have complained publicly, but so far we haven’t heard as much as a peep out of the ref’s camp, which leads me to believe something is up.

We all learned from this summer that Cairo is not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to transfer policy, but if there is anything that the opening of the season showed us, it is that this man is clearly not capable of running a football club. Perhaps backing it, but he seems to have been taking classes from the Zamparini school of management. He has helped to alienate a number of key players including Rosina and Sereni and management and created a real mess for GDB, who already has his hands full with injuries. In order for this team to succeed, Cairo needs to take out his meddling fingers. I appreciate that he loves this club, but right now he is hurting it!

Torino-Palermo Review

But hey, at least there’s something to be happy about! We won a game! All in all, we should have been about as inspired as Fabio Liverani would be this evening, but this game seemed to show that our players do have some grit. GDB was forced to field a ramshackle lineup, with Sereni, Corini, and Malonga out injured with Natali and Abate suspened, yet Rosina still found a place on the bench! Nonetheless, we outplayed a sluggish Palermo side in the first half by keeping the pressure on in the midfield, actually showing some fight. Both sides hit the woodwork, but overall it was a dire half.

In the second half we continued to take it to Palermo, playing with a bit more life, but still showing glimpses of that Serie B style attack. After Dzemaili hit the bar, Amoruso put in the followup, but it was ruled out for a very tight offsides. Credit to Cairo for staying calm afterwards (they panned to his box showing him in his seat, calm and collected), if I were him I’d have been flipping a shit at that point. Palermo had ex-Juve man Nocerino sent off for elbowing Dzemaili in the face (though it didn’t seem intentional) and we finally broke the deadlock on 89 minutes as Jurgen Säumel rifled in a volley from 20 yards to give a spectacular ending to a fairly boring match.

Of course after telling you all this, here are the highlights:

Overall, it wasn’t our greatest performance, but it was efficient, we kept Palermo at bay, and most importantly we won, keeping a fine record over Palermo in recent years. Dzemaili was a star, he could prove to be a great acquisition as long as he stays healthy. That’s all for now, and I look forward to writing again!

Our Opponents

Reggina are an interesting team who have done well to stay in Serie A in the past couple years. In the summer 0f 2006, when the flies were sent down to Serie B, Reggina was also slapped with a massive points penalty. Nonetheless they managed to survive relegation, largely thanks to two players, Rolando Bianchi and Nicola Amoruso, both of whom currently play for Torino. Last season, they were involved in a relegation battle but managed to survive largely because they were just a little bit beter than Empoli, Livorno, and Parma. Still, they will be looking to spend 2009-2010 in Serie A and a win here would help them.

Torino-Reggina Connecitons

Apart from the obvious Bianchi and Amoruso connections to Reggina, Aimo Diana, Ivan Franceschini, and Roberto Stellone have all feature for the amaranto in the past. On the other hand, this Reggina side features no players that have ever featured for us. Both Amoruso and Bianchi have said that they will try their hardest to score against Reggina but they will not celebrate if they score, which is fair in my mind. Both strikers had an important portion of their careers in Reggio Calabria and have a relationship with the fans, but as long as they try their hardest I will hold nothing against them. It is also interesting to note that Bianchi and new Reggina signing Bernardo Corradi were teammates at Man City.

Last season we defeated Reggina 3-1 in this edition of the fixture with current Toro players scoring all the goals. Rosina netted two penalties while Stellone added another and Amoruso scored for Reggina. However, in the other leg of the tie last season Reggina held us to a 2-2 draw at the Olimpico after Cozza scored from a free kick resulting from a mishandled backpass by Sereni. Overall we have a fairly even record against Reggina with seven wins, four draws, and six losses. In Serie A we are dead even, 3-2-3 though we have score more goals.

Probable Formations

Reggina

—————Corradi-Brienza
Halfredsson-Carmona-Tognozzi-Vigiani
———Costa-Cirillo-Valdez-Lanzaro
—————–Campagnolo

Allenatore: Nevio Orlandi

Torino
———-Bianchi
—–Amoruso-Bianchi
–Säumel-Corini-Zanetti
Rubin-Pratali-Di Loreto-Diana
———–Sereni

Allenatore: Gianni De Biasi

Key Players

Reggina: Bernardo Corradi

After a fairly poor spell in England, the Siena-born hitman is looking to end his career on a good note in Serie A. He score two weeks ago in Reggina’s 1-2 defeat to Chievo and will be looking to get on the scoresheet against Torino and continue his good form. He is strong in the air and will be a threat to our defenders if they are not at the top of their game. Although our defenders are also strong and good in the air, if they are not aware of Corradi’s movement we could face serious problems. Also, Diana and Rubin will have to be wary and try to prevent crosses, as that will probably be Reggina’s preferred method of creating chances.

Other players to watch: Franco Brienza, Bruno Cirillo, Carlos Carmona

Torino: Alessandro Rosina

After a fairly disappointing 2007-2008, Rosinaldo showed us some of his his scintillating best in the first round’s 3-0 victory over Lecce. The fantasista will be looking to replicate that form against Reggina as he assumes nearly complete responsibility for the side’s creativity. (Though Corini will certainly help a bit.) If he plays his best then it will be extremely difficult for the Reggina defense to contain him and with solid strikers like Bianchi and Amoruso up front the goals should come.

Other players to watch: Rolando Bianchi, Nicola Amoruso, Matteo Rubin

My Thoughts

This could be a tricky tie. Going to the south to play is a hard thing for any team, regardless of whether it is Inter or Atalanta. However, we have a fairly good recent record against southern teams and we should hope to continue that against Reggina. We will have to be very aware of Corradi’s goalscoring potential and Brienza’s creativity while Vigiani and new signing Carlos Carmona could also pose a threat from the midfield. I have been thinking a bit about Amoruso and Bianchi and although they have strong connections to the club they are also great professionals who will most likely do their best to perform as they would against any club. Although he isn’t predicted to start, I hope to see Blerim Dzemaili, who has been given the number 4, to feature in the game. He performed quite well in the friendly against Pro Vercelli and will hopefully make an impact, either starting or more likely off the bench. My prediction? Reggina 1-2 Torino.

FORZA TORO!

Over the international break, we were fortunate not too lose too many players to international duty, with only Jurgen Säumel being called up for Austria, though he did not even get on the bench in Austria’s 3-1 victory over France or their 2-0 loss to Lithuania. This is the first time in a while that we have not had players featuring at the international break. Some might say this speaks to a lack of quality in our sqaud, but to be perfectly honest I don’t think its too big a deal. If Dzemaili revives himself well, which seems to be doing (more on that later) he will probably start featuring again for Switzerland and I have a feeling Säumel will continue to be part of the Austria setup. We also have Abate on the Azzurrini, where he will likely return for the Israel playoff as we’re all hoping he’ll be fit by them, plus Rosina, Diana, and Sereni as potential Nazionale call-ups, though only Sereni is on Lippi’s 50 player mega-list. We will see what happens though. I’m satisfied with the fact that we have a solid squad of nearly all Italian players though.

We played two friendly matches over the international break and unfortunately, we lost our first game all season, falling 0-1 to Serie B side AlbinoLeffe. I’m not going to read too much into it, but I think we were bound to lose a game at some point, and in a meaningless friendly whose sole purpose was to keep our players fit over the international break, I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. Nor will I make a big deal out of our 3-0 victory over Pro Vercelli earlier this week, though from what I hear our new signing Blerim Dzemaili was quite impressive, bagging a goal in process. Abbruscato and Bianchi scored our other goals. Perhaps Dzemaili will get a starting spot against Reggina, but it seems as if De Biasi will stick with the same midfield as against Lecce. (More on the match preview this evening.)

Lastly, we cannot leave without discussing Di Michele’s acrimonious departure to West Ham. After itching for a move to Roma all summer (like that was ever going to happen, in retrospect), he scored a great goal to put Toro through in the Coppa Italia and won back alot of fans. After a day’s delay, it was revealed that Di Michele had moved to West Ham and that he was thankful for the move away. Just when we thought he might have changed his attitude he went off and disrespected the club and the fans, leaving many to hope that West Ham ends up buying him at the end of the year. To be honest, it never really seemed like he wanted to be at Torino and that we were just a stepping stone to get his career back on track after his betting scandal. Unfortunately, Cairo did pay a pretty penny for him, which is a shame, but it seems like it won’t be a huge financial blow. He was pretty erratic for us, so I’m not worried about his loss in the attack though we will lose a little bit of flair. All in all, I’m glad to see him go. Ciao, DDM, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

Back to the match, although we had some lucky goals, the team played with that cuore granata that we’ve been looking for and lacking in the past couple seasons. In goal Sereni was a beast, showing why he should have had a place in the Euro 2008 squad. He made some good saves including a fantastic one at the beginning of the second half. (It should be the first chance Lecce gets in the second half if you watch the highlights.) Our defense was OK, we have some good, strong defenders, but it is clear that they need to work together for longer as Pratali and Di Loreto didn’t have the best understanding on the pitch. Our full-backs were good though as Diana showed his versatility and occasionally went forward without neglecting his defensive duties while Rubin was even better, marauding up and down the left flank. He could be crucial this season.

In the midfield we gave a strong performance. Zanetti and Säumel worked very hard with the former thoroughly earning his first goal in the Toro jersey while Säumel had a nice debut and looks like he will adapt well to the Italian league. Corini was his usual creative self and looked good despite his ever-increasing age. Hopefully he stays reasonably fit and healthy because we don’t have any other player like him in our squad. Our attacking trident of Rosina, Amoruso, and Bianchi looked effective and could be even better with more time and practice together. Rosina was the best out of three but Amoruso and Bianchi were also good, threatening the Lecce defense with their movement and aerial ability.

We now have a two week break (this is when I most loathe international matches) before traveling to Reggina on September 14, and we can hopefully continue our good start to the season. If we play like we did today, 10th place is an achievable goal.

Highlights:

Mercato’s End

It’s been a long summer full of speculation, hope, and disappointment, but its finally over and all in all, I’m satisfied. There was a bit of controversy surrounding our mercato as we didn’t get started ’till late, but we got it together in the end. It wasn’t a great performance by our management but it should be enough to give us breathing room over the relegation zone this season. On the final day we signed Blerim Dzemaili from Bolton on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season. He is a Macedonian-born, ethnically Albanian, Swiss international (I think I got that right) midfielder who took part in the World Cup in 2006 for Switzerland and impressed at FC Zürich, though he struggled with a move to Bolton Wanderers after a serious injury and only made one appearance. Hopefully he can revive his career here at Toro.

Here’s a review of our mercato moves as a whole:

In

Angelo Ogbonna (Crotone, loan finished), Elvis Abbruscato (Lecce, co-ownership resolution), Marco Moro (Messina, co-ownership resolution), Nicola Amoruso (Reggina, full ownership), Tommaso Vailatti (Livorno, loan finished), Matteo Melara (Livorno, loan finished), Alex Calderoni (Treviso, full ownership), Riccardo Colombo (Udinese co-ownership), Jurgen Säumel (Sturm Graz, out of contract), Rolando Bianchi (Manchester City, full ownership), Francesco Pratali (Empoli, full ownership), Blerim Dzemaili (Bolton, loan with right to full ownership)

Out

Marco Motta (Udinese, loan finished), Álvaro Recboa (Inter, loan finished), Paolo Hernán Dellafiore (Palermo, loan finished), Gianluca Comotto (Fiorentina, full ownership), Nikola Lazetic (Red Star, out of contract), Masashi Oguro (Tokyo Verdy, out of contract), Sasa Bjelanovic (Vicenza, loan with option to buy), Lys Gomis (SPAL, loan), Claudio De Sousa (Pescara, co-ownership), Davide Bottone (Vicenza, loan), Vincenzo Grella (Blackburn, full ownership), Marco Moro (SPAL, loan)

I think overall we have a better team than last year though we could have done better. Our attack is much better and the only place we are weaker could be at right-back, though Diana looks more than capable and Colombo will be an adequate backup. The Gazzetta dello Sport gave us a 6 for our mercato and I would agree with that maybe pushing it up to a 6.5.

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.