Friday, September 05, 2008

Come on you Martelli?

It would appear that a corner of London is talking Italian. With Slaven Bilic out the way the top contenders for the vacant West Ham job all appear to be very familiar names to followers of Serie A. As Kevin Keegan might have said after Alex Ferguson wound him up, I would "love it" if one of them was to get the post.

Bobby Mancini was a front-runner but appears to have ruled himself out. That makes way for our recently deposed CT, Roberto Donadoni. The final contender - perhaps the most intriguing appointment since he was a Chelsea legend - is Gianfranco Zola. Any one of them would make for interesting times.

The reason I would like to see one of them appointed is simple. I would actually start to care a bit about the Premiership. I kind of keep an eye on Andrea Dossena at Liverpool (sorry Trent), and I have my fantasy football side to watch out for but a manager could take things to a whole new level. They almost always bring in their own favourites which could mean an influx of Italians at Upton Park. The Claret and Azzurri could quickly become my side in England.

So, all together now, "io sto sempre soffiando bollicine, belle bollicine nell'aria..."

4 comments:

Aussie Romanista said...

First Di Michele, now possibly Donadoni. How farken embarassing if a coach goes from managing the Azzurri to managing West Ham. WEST FARKING HAM!?!?! Gimme a break. Why doesn't he just wait a month or two for Zamparini's call when he sacks Ballardini at Palermo?
This outflow of Italians to foreign clubs really is shitting me to tears. All we need is Amauri to play for Italy and I'll consider handing in my passport!

That one's for you Trent.

patcook said...

Im not as upset about it as AR. Atleast Italy aren't exporting coaches and replacing them with foriegners. The depth of managers in Italy is very pleasing. And lets not forget Donadoni didn't have the most amazing CV before managing Italy, I dont think its necessarily a backward step for him. He'l probably get a nice salary too. I'd love to see Zola get the post tho.

ginkers said...

AR

I have to admit to being happy enough to see our coaches exported. Zola has no track record to speak of and if West Ham want to take the risk then fair enough. I would be more worried if, say, Luciano Spalletti was being signed up for Bolton.

Pat

I think Coaches are becoming one of our major exports. Capello, Trapattoni and now Zola. I don't mind it too much, as long as they give something to Italy first.

Anonymous said...

"I kind of keep an eye on Andrea Dossena at Liverpool" !! You are forgiven. Just this once mind.

Nice rant AR. Nobody does it like you :0)

Personally I think WHU have made a good choice in landing Zola. The guy oozes class. As a player, and, over time, I think that'll also be the case as a manager. I think taking the West Ham job is a good move for hin as well. He won't quite be under the same scrutiny as he would be if he were - managing his first club - in Italy.

One of Italy's best exports at the moment in football coaches/managers. Something to be proud of I think. What does that say about the quality of coaches around the rest of Europe (especially England - not Scotland) ?