Mr. White, Senor Blanco, Signor Bianchi

By: Joe | June 29th, 2007

Whatever you want to call him, I prefer two-faced jackoff myself, Bianchi is proving to be quite the elusive target. I wrote David Trezeguet’s signing with Juventus probably cleared the way forRolando Bianchi to sign with Napoli. Seemingly, Juve should have enough strikers (Trez, Palladino, Del Piero, Zalayeta & Iaquinta) and they wouldn’t need Bianchi. Rainieri isn’t going to roll out a 3-2-5 formation, is he? There are rumblings things may not be so clear and Signor Bianchi may be at the center of the rumbling.

Of course, when it comes to comings and goings of the transfer market, nothing is ever what it seems. Juve’s Giovanni Cobolli says he believes Juve is set at the striker position and needs to add a central defender (tired of Boumsong already, eh?). The question which remains is the interest legit or is Bianchi using the story to try and pry more money from Napoli? Given the depth at forward, my guess is Bianchi is following the advice of his agent. A player in his mid-20’s coming into his own owes it to himself to hold out for the best deal possible. There is, however, no accounting for a player talking out of both sides of his mouth claiming playing for Napoli and Juventus would be a
dream come true. If you really want to wear black and white stripes, pal, you can always get yourself arrested. Bianchi may be taking matters into his own hands and putting his services up for grabs to the highest bidder on e-bay. Good stuff.

Predictably, Napoli countered with a threat that we won’t play this waiting game much longer and will turn their focus on Mariano Pavone, a 24-year old striker at Estudiantes. Whatever.

Cristian Bucchi wants to stay in Napoli. To his credit, when Bucchi got benched he kept his mouth shut and didn’t stir the pot. He seems like a class guy and his teammates love him. He just doesn’t strike me as Serie A quality. He’s a little slow to get the ball on net and doesn’t get himself in proper position when he’s inside the 18-yard box. There is a market for Bucchi, however, which is why I think he’ll be sold off relatively soon. Marino just can’t do it until he gets at least one attacker (and hopefully two) to pair up with Calaio.

FIFA.com had an article on their site regarding Napoli’s promotion to Serie A. They slag the team off for “only” winning two Scudetto and having 6 second place finishes. Whatever. That’s “only” 2 more scudetti than all other teams south of Rome. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Sepp Blatter. They also spell Samuele DallaBona’s name as Samuele De La Bona. Nice job.

Lega Calcio released some news and the Serie A season will start on August 26 and end on May 18. There will be four Wednesday matches and the winter break is shorter this year (thank God) and will last from Christmas Eve until January 6. The Coppa Italia kicks off on August 15 with the next two subsequent rounds to be played in rapid succession on August 18 and August 26. The Coppa final will be a single match not spread out over two
legs and played on May 24. The Suppercoppa between Inter and Roma will take place on August 19. I don’t suppose there’s any chance of the earth swallowing up both teams and calling it a draw, is there?
Maurizio Domizzi turns 27 - Domizzi celebrated his birthday on June 28 by dispelling rumours he wanted out of Napoli. Reports had Domizzi asking Napoli for his release after they spent 1.3 million ot purchase him outright rom Sampdoria. The reports claimed he wanted to be closer to his family in Rome. Domizzi came back the next day to refute the claims. He said the report is typical of journalists trying to create controversy where there is none. Journalists n Italy not being completely truthful and checking sources before they go to print? In other breaking news, Vesuvius still stands. Domizzi said he had been vacation and hasn’t talked to anyone. He’s happy to stay at Napoli and looks forward to
training with the squad in Austria come July 19.