Comments on: Is L’arciere Azzurro Our 2007/2008 Saviour?

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:27:18 +0000

Jankovic is still riding the pine? Then again, a lot of Palermo’s moves don’t make sense to me, like chasing off Corini without any clear replacement for him in midfield. (And this seems even more bizarre in light of them resigning Fontana…)

By: LorenzoRosanero

LorenzoRosanero — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:31:17 +0000

you know, Lisa, i realize that Calaio’s absence has been the fault of the coach. Sounds ALOT like how Bosko Jankovic for Palermo has been riding the bench b/c Guidolin is a moron. it seems to me that our teams share the same problems…

regardless, i still want Calaio in rosanero!

By: Fortunato

Fortunato — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:05:30 +0000

Neil, although I can’t be 100% certain, I think Calaio did the moving he did a few years ago, particuarly going the other way down to C1 from B with Pescara because of the $$ Napoli was willing to pay him, becoming a part of the new Napoli and also playing in front of a guaranteed 50,000 fans every home game (kind makes you feel like you’re playing in A rather than C1).
I watched a Napoli-Pescara game last year (Pescara 1, Napoli 1) and it appeared there were 7,000 fans in the stadium (rather depressing).
Believe me, Calaio isn’t my brother or long lost cousin, BUT I feel Reja has quite simply misused him this season (kind of like what he did to Bucchi last year) and although I agree with Joe’s past comment, Calaio is not a world class striker, after the Parma game in late December, I had had my fill of Zalayeta and I thought Calaio was worthy of a shot. Well, here it is……
Joe, to answer your question, according to my rcords, Calaio and Lavezzi have not started together in the same game. Calaio has only gotten two starts this year: one against Livorno and the other against Genoa.

By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:39:11 +0000

I don’t understand how Calaio is 26 years old but has never scored regularly at the Serie A level. I’m not calling into question his talent or potential, but there are some questions worth asking: Why did he go down the ladder from bigger clubs to smaller ones? He went from Torino to Pescara to Napoli’s Serie C1 side. Don’t good prospects go in the other direction, from Serie C up to Serie A? Also, why was he loaned out twice by Torino? I’d love to know which Torino strikers kept him from getting lots of playing time. I find it hard to believe the problem is Calaio’s agents and coaches… good players will find a way to succeed, plain and simple. In any case, now’s his time to prove his worth. Forza Napoli

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:33:33 +0000

It’s hard for me to answer the question, Lisa. I simply can’t be objective about Reja. I think he’s a Serie B coach at best. He’s too rigid…falls in love with players who clearly aren’t getting the job done…is way too defensive…has horrible substitution patterns.

All that said, over the summer Reja was holding out for a two year deal and Napoli made it clear they were only going to give him a one year deal. This went on for almost a month before Reja relented and signed. This one factor (and the blowups DeLaurentis has had when criticizing Reja) lead me to believe he’s gone. I know DeLa has backed off those statements and says they’ll talk in the summer, but I don’t think it’ll happen. I think Marino and DeLa understand that in order to take that next step, they need more quality players and a quality coach.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:24:29 +0000

Much as I LOVE the idea, I doubt we’ll get Lippi to Napoli. Although I will be happy to eat my words if DeLaurentiis can make it happen…

I asked the question because I think we need a change of coach-although I don’t think the situation is dire enough to change mid-season. (I think that’s the only reason Reja wasn’t gone after that chewing out-unless you’ve got someone demonstrably better lined up, changing coaches mid-season isn’t terribly helpful.)

To be honest, I think a lot of our problems and inconsistency are down to the coach. I respect Reja for what he’s done for us, he got us back to A, but I think he’s taken the team as far as he can and we need to bring in someone of higher caliber if we intend to be more than just another one of the usual mid-table suspects.

By: Fortunato

Fortunato — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:00:25 +0000

Lisa, I don’t like Reja’s chances of survival beyond the season (I think he’s toast). Although it may be unfair since this is the partenopei’s first season in Serie A, the public and the President have spent some dough and have expected a better overall result. It’s one thing to lose to the Romas and the Milans of the world but it is embarrassing to lose to Cagliari twice and a struggling Empoli team, at home, not to mention the notable subpar performances this past season against Reggina, a struggling Lazio team, Parma and Torino.
DeLaurentiis is a hot head but I think when he riduced and chewed out Reja in front of his players after the Empoli game, it told me it’s just a matter of time. You’ve just given me a great idea for my next blog. Maybe we can entice Marcello Lippi to return to Napoli??

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:12:50 +0000

Joe, what do you think are the odds we get a new coach after this season? (Or is it too early to be asking this question?)

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:52:34 +0000

Caliaio’s use this year is clearly exhibit # 139 against the sanity of Edy Reja. I don’t think Emmanuele is a world class striker, by any means, but he does bring energy, a strong aerial presence and has the ability to hold the ball up for oncoming players.

It’ll be very interesting to watch him play with Lavezzi. I don’t have the stats in front of me but I don’t believe he’s been out on the pitch with El Pocho for more than 60 minutes all season.

By: Steven

Steven — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:40:15 +0000

Fuck it, we’ll take him anyway.