Uh…never mind I think Marino is doing a fine job

By: Joe | July 25th, 2007

It seems there a strange pull somewhere in the universe. I post an entry where I convince myself something is going to happen like Napoli signing Nocerino and within hours of posting the entry the exact opposite happens (Nocerino was scooped by Fiorentina only to have Juve pull the rug out from under La Viola the next day). So why was I still shocked when I posted that the deal with Walter Gargano was over and Marino should be subject to have his entire body dry shaved by Edward Scissorhands, when lo and behold Napoli announces they’ve officially signed Gargano?
For those unaware of Walter Gargano he’s a defensive midfielder who has starred for the Uruguayan side FC Danubio for the past four years. Gargano is an animal on the ball and has recently begun featuring with the Uruguayan national side. Despite his tender age (turning 23 on Friday) he has a lot of experience at the highest level in South America. FC Danubio have won two of their three Uruguayan league titles with Gargano featuring heavily in both campaigns. He has also participated in the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamerica and Copa America.

The drama around the deal to bring Gargano to Napoli is what makes the silly season truly bizarre.
* On July 5, Direttore Generale Pier Paulo Marino announced Napoli reached a deal with FC Danubio and had agreed to terms with the player. The club was waiting for Gargano to finish up his Copa America duties in Venezuela before calling a press conference
and introducing Gargano to Napoli.
* On July 12 things started to turn sour and the player was allegedly looking for more salary and was interested in Udinese who had offered to more than double the salary being offered by Napoli.
* On July 16 things seemed to turn again and the player pledged his love for Napoli and was in Italy the next day looking to update his passport.
* Later that same day, Marino seemingly cut ties with Gargano and declared the deal dead * Gargano was then being courted by Atalanta on July 20
* After trying to make amends with Napoli, Gargano’s agent then gave up
the ghost and said the player was going to look elsewhere
* Of course the next day, Gargano signs a five year deal

So that wears me out just reading it. Marino’s low profile strategy seemed to work out for the best and, eventually, he let Gargano come back to him. I’m not sure if that same strategy will work for an established player but it seemed to pay off here.

The purchase of Gargano set Napoli back 3.2 million € and his salary is structured such that he’s guaranteed 170,000 € and will make an additional 30,000 once he makes 15 appearances. It seems Gargano was serious about signing with the club as he had been offerred more than 300,000 to play for Udinese but kept saying all along he wanted to play for Napoli.

It’s likely Reja is going to sit him in front of the back line and have him start the offense by playing to his strengths which are tackling, winning the ball, his pace and passing. Fabio Gatti will be his backup and will still be an important facet of the squad. Gargano is moving from a 16 to a 20 team league at a higher level of competition. More games at a higher competitive level will surely take some getting used to.

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Fellow Uruguayan Nicolas “Iceman” Amodio signed a five year deal and was immediately loaned out to Treviso. Amodio should get regular playing time with the Serie B side where he’ll play along side ex-Napoli player Ivano Trotta.

Coppa Italia update: On August 15, Napoli will host Cesena in the first round of the Coppa Italia. If Napoli gets past Cesena (and since they’re at home and Cesena has lost Papa Waigo to Genoa and are about to lose Pelle they damn well better) they’ll play the winner of Brescia-Pisa on August 18. The next match would be against Livorno on August 29. Coppa Italia matches beyond the 8/29 round will be decided by home/away matches.