The preseason is more than a bit crowded this year with the Intertoto Cup matches, the standard friendly matches and the start of the season looming on August 31. At least Napoli will avoid the first three rounds of the Coppa Italia and will enter the competition in the round of 16. We have that going for us….which is nice. So this year we’ll avoid getting the fan base all excited with three Coppa Italia victories before playing against a top-8 Serie A side only to play bench warmers Francesco Montervino, Gianluca Grava, our 2nd-string keeper then wonder why we didn’t advance. Shocking! We’ll just remove any of suspense and play some Primavera boys against an inspired Ascoli side and bow out at the round of 16.

The schedule for our Azzurri is as follows:
* Tuesday, July 8 (friendly against local Jennersdorf team)
* Friday, July 11 (friendly against HNK Hajduk) 6-time Croatian Champions and finished last year in 5th in Croatia’s top flight)
* Sunday, July 13 (friendly against SV Hollenegg) – not a freaking clue as to who they are
* Tuesday, July 15 (friendly against FC Fehérvár) – won Hungarian Cup in 2006 and the first Hungarian Liga Cup in 2007….yeah, like I know the difference between the two. FC Fehérvár’s claim to fame was reaching the EUFA Cup final in 1985 and losing to a little Spanish team 3-1 on aggregate.
* July 18 (leave Jennersdorf)
* July 19 or July 20 – first away leg of the Intertoto cup (against either Serbian club OFK Beograd or Greek Club Panionios. Winner to be determined July 13)
* July 26 or July 27 – return leg of the Intertoto Cup
* August 2 – Friendly against Argentine giants Boca Juniors
* August 14 – Potential UEFA Cup match
* August 21 – Birra Moretti matches against AC Milan and Juventus (Inter backed out and was replaced by Milan)
* August 28 – Potential UEFA Cup match
* August 31 – Start of Serie A season

Here’s the list of players going to Austria: Nicolas Amodio, Manuele Blasi, Mariano Bogliacino, Paolo Cannavaro, Matteo Contini, Samuele Dalla Bona, Roberto De Zerbi, Gustavo German Denis, Walter Gargano, Matteo Gianello, Gianluca Grava, Marek Hamsik, Gennaro Iezzo, Christian Maggio, Daniele Mannini, Francesco Montervino, Michele Pazienza, Inacio Pià, Leandro Rinaudo, Fabiano Santacroce, Mirko Savini, Angelo Scalzone, Luigi Sepe, Luigi Vitale, Marcelo Zalayeta.

Conspicuous by their absence are Nicolas Navarro, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Maurizio Domizzi. Navarro and Lavezzi will be with the Argentine national team as they look to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Lavezzi will surely see a little playing time while Navarro is on the Argentine provisional squad and will be called in case of an injury. Kind of like the beauty pageant runner-up thing. Speaking of the Olympics, Pierluigi Casiraghi did not call up Fabiano Santacroce to play with the Azzurrini in China. That’s fairly good news for Napoli so Santacroce can spend more time with the squad. He may not have been chosen due to the fact that Santacroce would be suspended for, I believe, two matches. I still think Casiraghi is making a mistake here. Santacroce proved himself to be one of the best defenders in Serie A in the second half of the season. Oh well. The saga of Domizzi started late last season and has continued through the entire calciomercato. Rumor has it Domizzi’s wife isn’t settled at Napoli and he’s looking to please the misses. Domizzi has been linked with Roma, Lazio, Sampdoria, Fiorentina, Parma and who-the-hell-else. Marino will look to end this drama within the next week as Domizzi can’t just sit and do nothing. It should be interesting. More to follow later.

FORZA NAPOLI!

On to better news, here are the latest tidbits in Napoli’s summer transfer activities:

1. It appears all but official that Palermo defender Leando Rinaudo is a partenopeo. From all accounts my Palermo friends have advised me that the 25 year old is quite the talent and they are rather disappointed to see him leave since many were banking on him replacing the recently departed Andrea Barzagli (who signed with VLF Wolfsburg). Rinuado’s signing likely makes it official that Maurizio Domizzi is a goner. Rinaudo is a native Palermitano and the slender defender tallied 2 goals in 22 games!!

2. I’m not that this tidbit is accurate but nonetheless Goal.com has reported that in early May, Napoli had signed 23 year old Argentinean midfielder Tomas Costa who played with the Rosario Central team this past season. In 16 games, the 6’1” player scored 1 goal. Other Internet sites state that Costa had signed with Porto of the Portuguese league for a transfer fee of 3.2 million euros. Whose right?

3. Rumor has it that Roma and Napoli are very interested in swapping assets in Gennaro Iezzo to the giallorossi in exchange for the seldom used, native Napoletano Mauro Esposito. The 29 year old striker would give us some serious depth in the position but it has been a while since he was a starter and his best years were enjoyed with Cagliari where he spent 6 years as a regular. As for San Gennaro, Roma has made no secrets that they want to beef up the keeper position for the CL run and current keeper Doni does show flaws from time to time that may be related to fatigue and over use. Personally if I were Marino I would do the swap in a heartbeat.
4. There were rumors that Napoli was interested in Atalanta striker Sergio Floccari but he appears destined to sign with Palermo. I think he’s overrated so I can’t say that I am disappointed.
5. Cagliari striker Robert Acquafresca does not appear destined to be wearing the Azzurri colours next year. All repots indicate that Marino has pulled out of the running (if he was ever really in them to begin with).
6. Amidst the rumours of his arrival to his native Napoli, Toto DiNatale in a recent interview stated that although he loves the thought of arriving at the San Paolo playing for the Azzurri, but he doesn’t realistically see the move happening since he loves Udinese and he doesn’t see Marino acquiring him in light of the youth movement currently in place in Napoli. Stay tuned friends as stranger things have happened. Keep the faith!
7. Another rumored swap is between Livorno and Napoli where the Azzurri would give up seldom used defender Erminio Rullo in exchange for 26 year old defender Giovanni Pasquale. Pasquale was a starter for Livorno last season playing in 35 games with no goals (actually he has never tallied at all in his career) but he is more recognized as a solid defender. My take is ah, this is a no brainer!! I am still trying to remember the last time Rullo saw the pitch- I think it was in Serie B sometime after his arrival in January 2007 so to trade up a reserve for a veteran starter in Serie A makes it a sweet deal. I can’t see why Livorno would do it though.
8. I have also done some reading that Napoli have thrown their hat in the ring to acquire Vincenzo Iaquinta since his days at Juventus are numbered now that the bianconeri are close to signing Amauri. I’m not sure how I feel about going after Iaquinta. Maybe I just can’t get DiNatale out of my head.

That’s it for now folks. More rumors to come soon.

*  For the second time this season, Napoli lost to Cagliari. A Cagliari side that hadn’t scored two goals in a match in 10 weeks, had lost six consecutive matches and hadn’t won since the sixth week of the season. Pasquale Foggia came on as a 60th minute substitute and
turned Cagliari completely around. Napoli surrendered two goals in stoppage time
to lose what may be the worst defeat since the playoff promotion loss to
Avellino three seasons ago. Jeremy at the Cagliari blog  is so pumped he doesn’t know
what to do with himself.

Hint: getting a result against Juventus, or perhaps just maiming a few bianconeri, would suffice, bro. Cagliari demonstrated all the heart and passion that my beloved Napoli have shown these last few years. And for those who may saw that Napoli simply lost focus during the final few minutes, I would respectfully disagree. From the moment Foggia came on, we had
no answers. Our defense couldn’t close down the spaces, our midfield kept coughing up the ball and the substitutions? We brought on Serie C veterans Gianluca Grava and Francesco Montervino and “one trick pony” Roberto Sosa. If you’re scoring at home that means we left Samuele Dalla Bona, Emanuele Calaio and Roberto De Zerbi on the bench (De Zerbi wasn’t called up for the game because we had a deal to send him out on loan to Brescia). Suffice it to say, it was black Sunday for anyone supporting Napoli blue. And then….

*  The dreaded votes of confidence came for coach Edy Reja. President Aurelio De Laurentis said Reja was his man and had his full back and blamed injuries and suspensions for our poor form. I’m not buying it. Losing Mirko Savini is a wash and while keeper Genarro Iezzo was out for the Cagliari match, backup Matteo Gianello did a decent job and given Iezzo’s form this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would have been even more out of position than Gianello was on the late shots that chipped over him and hit the crossbar. Direttore Generale Pier Paolo Marino than said there’s no crisis (which may in fact be true) and the coach is not under any risk of losing his job. Again, I’m not buying that either as the perfect storm of events are swirling around the club and there are too many qualified candidates out there to think Marino hasn’t made some inquiries and would be ready to pull the trigger if things continue down
this path. And then…

*  Marino went out and made some deals. €17 worth of deals. Considering Napoli spent somewhere south of €27 in transfers over the summer, the deals were tantalizing and amount to a huge infusion of youth, talent and excitement into a squad that has become more and
more predictable as they look to hang on for dear life. 24-year old Midfielder Daniele Mannini
was purchased from Brescia for €8 (link says the number is €5, it isn’t). Mannini is a dangerous
winger who plays primarily on the left side but is versatile enough to play on either side. Marino compared his talents to ManUtd’s Cristiano Ronaldo…hopefully with less hair product and without the speedo and diving goggles. Inter Milan were thought to have had the right of first refusal on Mannini and would have loaned him out to another Serie A side, but Marino swooped in and grabbed him. As of this writing, we’re still not sure if he’s coming immediately or in June.
Marino has said a decision will be made by Wednesday. With the recent injury to keeper Genarro Iezzo, Marino went to South America again and struck a bargain for Argentinos Juniors keeper Nicolas Navarro. The 22-year old was purchased for €4 and he was rumored to be leaving for Europe this summer. Navarro is a big guy who seems extremely acrobatic and calm for someone so young. I guess this puts those Marco Amelia rumors to bed. When Iezzo comes back from his injury, there’ll be a log jam at the keeper spot so I think, while no one is talking about it, Matteo Gianello could be on his way out. Then Marino went back to the Brescia well (remember Marek Hamsyk was purchased from Brescia this summer for €6) and picked up a young center half stud I had been clamoring for since August. Fabiano Santacroce was purchased for €5 and he comes very highly regarded from coach Sersi Cosmi. I love Cosmi and I’d tend to think he was just pumping up his player but I’ve seen Brescia play on RAI a few times this year and the kid is good. He’s strong and lean and gets stuck in with the
best of them. He’s also featured for PierLuigi Casiraghi’s U-20 side which can’t be all that bad.

The most exciting part of these deals is that all these players are young and up and coming stars. In theory, this should mean the summer would be spent on adding veteran players to address some of the remaining holes (forward and another winger).

So all in all an eventful week. I’m tired. Back to work.

Marino really cut his teeth, however, at Udinese. In 1990 Marino took over the Fruilani after they had just been relegated to Serie B. They bounced between Serie A and B until hitting their stride in the mid-90’s behind Marino’s guidance. Despite working with limited funds, Udinese finished 8th or better seven times in Marino’s 13 years at the helm (highwater mark was the 97/98 campaign where they finished 3rd). They also won the Intertoto cup in 2001. Listen, if you’re not Juve, Milan, Inter or Roma you relish every damn trophy. No exceptions.

Key to Marino’s success was his ability to acquire young talent. International youngsters signed by Udinese under Marino’s watch include:
* Abel Balbo, Roberto Sensini & Roberto Sosa (Argentina) 
* Per Krøldrup, Martin Jørgensen & Thomas Heldveg (Denmark)
* He also acquired Oliver Bierhoff and Marek Jankulovski.
Italian youngsters signed under Marino include:
* Valerio Bertotto who had over 300 appearences, Morgan De Sanctis, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Giampiero Pinzi & Luigi Turci
His recruiting prowess also extended to coaches as Marino hired Luciano Spalletti and Alberto Zaccheroni.

Aurelio De Laurentis pried Marino away in 2004 to ressurect Napoli from the ashes. Two successive promotions from Serie C1 (we should’ve already been in Serie A if it weren’t for that damn playoff loss against Avellino in our first year) to the top flight are all the proof the tifosi partenopei need to back Marino. But, and you so knew a “but” was coming, when Napoli’s shortcomings are obvious to all and he comes out with a gem like he did today, it just makes my blood boil.

In a statement likely made simply to dampen expectations, Marino today said “squads aren’t built in January” and the ever-popular “if someone would’ve told me at the beginning of the season we’d have 15 points by now, I’d have taken it.” We are fans, we aren’t obliged to be reasonably happy or content. We’re fickle and we’re impatient. So let it be written…so let it be done.

First off, no one is advocating a full scale turnover in January. It won’t happen and we all know it’s counterproductive. But the needs of the club are obvious: get another striker (or find out what you have in Calaio), cut loose Ruben Maldonado, Fabio Gatti and Marco Capparella, pick up at least one more defender and figure out what you’re doing with Mirko Savini/Gyorgy Garics and Gianluca Grava cuz that steaming pile of garbage on the wings aren’t cutting it. If the squad is left in its current state and some improvements aren’t made, then we’re in for a season long relegation battle. I mean did you see Maldonado out there against Palermo? Holy crap, that was bad.

Secondly, whatever your expectations were at the start of the season, no one cares about them now. If you have a chance to build and get better, you take it. There’s no dignity in coming up just short and then justifying the near success (read: failure) by saying we didn’t expect to be here in the beginning of the season. Also, one of this side’s most influential deal came very late in the transfer window when we picked up Marcelo Zalayeta and Manuele Blasi from Juventus. They didn’t have much time to blend in with the squad before our first game. So don’t give me any lip, Mister.

The pressure is most certainly on Marino as Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentis has stated Napoli will make a big splash and they “realize we’re in serie A.” The tifosi have let the squad know their displeasure with the lack of transfer signings and De Laurentis knows a big signing or two is still needed if Napoli are going to realize his goal of a top 10 Serie A finish this season.

Walter Gargano is now officially gone and Napoli have lost a potential young stud
they could have placed as a defensive midfielder for the next five years. So does the club go out and target another d-mid to place alongside Gatti and Amodio? Of course not. It appears Nicolas “Iceman” Amodio is being loaned out to Treviso. Brilliant. Nothing says depth like putting all your eggs in Fabio Gatti’s 5′6″ frame.

The latest plan is to target Carlos Paredes from Sporting Lisbon. While the Paraguayan midfielder is on the wrong side of 30, just turned 31 last week, he has loads of experience playing at the highest level (two years with FC Porto and the last four seasons with Reggina). There are rumours he may assume the captain’s armband for Paraguay now that Carlos Gamarra has retired from international football. Reportedly the asking price is only 3 million. While Paredes isn’t a d-mid your going to build your squad around for the next five years, he’s more than capable and can be a rock in the heart of the midfield for the next two years at least. All that being said, it won’t get done. Marino won’t like his hairstyle or his beard or something. He just looks like a d-mid though, doesn’t he?
Another option for Napoli is Matteo Brighi. The AS Roma-owned player is not going to get any time with the giallorossi with Perotta, De Rossi, Mancini and hell knows who else blocking his path. Brighi has kept a low profile but let it be known his preference is to play with the Azzurri.

You had to figure the rumours of Alvaro Recoba coming to Napoli were not going to pan out. When healthy ‘il Chino’ is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the world. However, Recoba was told by Roberto Mancini that he wasn’t going to get much playing time
at Inter Milan with their 18 strikers and 34 midfielders on the roster. Turns out Recoba’s family is looking to head back to Uruguay and he’s targeting Nacional or FC Danubio.
There are rumblings of improprieties in the Lavezzi signing. I haven’t been able to discern any details of what the issues are but the matter may go to court. News keeps getting better and better.

I’m not going to say a word about a Jersey born Azzurrini player who may have trouble finding space at Manchester United and is rumoured to cost about 12 million euro.

So although word from Napoli’s camp was that the Gargano signing was merely a formality and the promising young FC Danubio defensive midfielder would sign right after the Copa America, things turned sour again. Marino has been beaten to the punch a few times now and must make amends. Since Napoli begin their pre-season training in Feldkirchen, Austria on Wednesday, July 18, Napoli must strike quickly if they are to give any new potential signee the benefit of a full camp. Friendlies are scheduled for July 21, 25, 28 and August 1. Let’s get rolling Marino.

Personally, I’m a bit over all the drama and gnashing my teeth over who players who have slipped between our fingers. The squad needs depth in defense, midfield and another striker. We’ll look at the next targets later this week.

* Congratulations to Napoli fullback Erminio Rullo whose wife Flavia gave birth to their fist child (Aurora). Rullo was acquired in January from Lecce and really starred in his limited playing time during the 2nd half last season. Hopefully, the 23-year old Napoletano can shrug off the sleepless nights and be ready to contribute in his first Serie A campaign.

* Napoli fired Primavera coach Luigi Caffarelli. No word yet on a replacement and it’s likely Caffarelli will be reassigned to another position at the club, potentially as a coach for Reja. Napoli’s Primavera club finished 8th, out of 13, in Group D, fourteen points out of a playoff spot. Inter Milan won the championship. Any chance any of those players actually wind up suiting up for the neroazzurri?

For most calcio fans, summer is a time to wind down from the long domestic season, reintroduce ourselves to the concept of a ‘free’ weekend morning (Yah! honey-do lists) and, of course, fretting over our squad’s dealings in the silly season known as il calciomercato.

For the squadra partenopei, the new campaign will mean saying goodbye to some old faces to make room for players who are younger, faster, and…. better.

A list of old faces who may soon be hitting the road:

David Guibilato – the defender has been with Napoli since De Laurentis picked up the burning rubble that was S.S.C. Napoli and transformed the squad once again to a Serie A side.  The veteran played a good bit at the start of the season when Reja was still tinkering with his formation and rotation strategy.  I believe he switched to the 3-5-2 because Guibilato kept getting burned and he couldn’t risk having him out there for any longer than was absolutely necessary.  A lack of form found Guibilato fetching Reja water during matches and regaling the lads with tales of what it was like to play on such fabled teams as Sora, Avezzano and Viterbese.  He’s slow, can’t mark well, is out of contract and on the wrong side of 30.  Arriverderci, David.