retired_brianrt

Well Serie A is challenging, but when success comes it is very rewarding My new outing was something I fancied, and I wanted to relay my adventures, but if its as good as my Newcastle and Juve stories then I'll be happy

retired_teju

I've decided to cut down on the bold from now on. It makes it look smart of course, but also makes it more of a pain in the arse to do. I'll still be bolding, just a little less.

December was always a critical month in any championship race. We started it on the 2nd at home to Lazio, and Ibrahimovic gave us a fantastic start, with a 2nd minute diving header. Just a minute later, Ashton bundled in a rebound. We were looking very good indeed. For 5 minutes anyway, until they scored six minutes later, then scored again after 17. Here we go. The game was dull from there. In the 55th minute, Ashton lit it up with a remarkable 30 yard chip, and as the commentators said, he was "justifying the praise" that had come his way of late. Ten minutes later, he smashed in low for his hat-trick, bringing the comment that he was "an assassin in front of goal". On 80 minutes, Cambiasso slammed in a long range bender to cap a sensational performance going forward, and a very ordinary performance defensively. However, if we went on scoring 5 every game, I was pretty confident we'd be tough to beat.

The Champions League game three days later against Ajax saw all the reserves come in, since we'd qualified already. We dominated a dull 1st half. The same thing happened in the second, a dreadful game meandering to a bore draw. I didn't care of course.

After the game, I tied up a January signing. Tomas Sivok of Udinese would join us for a fee of 2.4M on a 30k/week contract. It looked a bargain. He'd been very effective for them in a defensive midfield role, and had impressed me and the coaching staff every time we saw him.

On the 8th came the "Derby of Italy", a home date with Juventus. It was still a huge game of course, yet they weren't the force of old these days. We were in charge from the start, Recoba giving us the lead with a free kick 4 minutes in. They dug in, and frustrated us, without much threat on their part. Recoba was at it again from a dead ball after 68 minutes, firing in a cross that was terrifically headed in by Ibrahimovic. They scored straight away of course just to keep us sweating as usual, but Alex fired back a few minutes later with a deflected shot. It was an excellent win, and we seemed to be back on course. Two days later, the physios gingerly informed me that Ibrahimovic was out for 2 months with a torn groin. I exploded of course. When was this s**t ever going to stop? Injuries and underperformance was killing us.

So we were without our two best strikers for a tough trip to Udinese. Our depleted team turned in a dull and scrappy performance. I didn't cut the lads any slack, and was really irritable at the break. It didn't improve matters. Just as I had reconciled myself with the prospect of a draw, the home side helped themselves to a completely undeserved winner two minutes from time. I went ballistic again, and was at the point of considering my position. I was just fed up with the constant torrent of injury and underperformance.

We'd have to seriously buck up for the game 4 days later, against Milan at the San Siro (we were technically the away side). We were being written off in the build-up to the game, not so much for that match, but for the title. I used it to try and wind up the players. Under the circumstances, I wasn't surprised it didn't work. However, we did manage to take a point in what was a dour defensive struggle that neither side deserved to win. I wasn't satisfied, but what could I do?

Three days later, the punishing schedule took us to Genoa, for a game with Sampdoria. It was yet another atrocious spectacle, enlivened only by the fact that we won it. Camoranesi out-jumped the keeper to head us in front after 50 minutes. Ashton added a second on the counter attack ten minutes from time. Still dire stuff compared to what we could produce. Heading into the winter break it was a godsend, as was the break itself, for a number of reasons.

There was no way I was going to take my irritability into the Christmas holiday. Carla and I had a wonderful time, though she asked when was I going to make good on my rash proposal to marry her. Of course I would marry her, I had made up my mind. It was just such a heavy load to manage this club and keep up a romance at the same time. The only way it could be done was to step back as much as possible, so it was just as well I rarely went into training, or attended any part of the job that wasn't vital. If I did, it would probably drive me completely crazy. Speaking of which, the end of the month arrived with the news that Cambiasso had torn his groin as well (what the hell was wrong with everybody's groins? Perhaps it was time I had a sex ban for the players.) We'd just have to deal with it, the same way we'd been having to deal with it all f****ng year long. I was surprised that Moratti and the board were still right behind me, although as always, they were perhaps blinded by the hefty profit of 3.79M

retired_teju

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Inter| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Roma | | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 13 | +17 | 35 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Milan | | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Udinese | | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Inter | | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 40 | 16 | +24 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Fiorentina | | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 15 | +13 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Chievo | | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Juventus | | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 24 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Sampdoria | | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 22 | -2 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Napoli | | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 22 | +1 | 22 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Parma | | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Empoli | | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 23 | -6 | 21 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Lazio | | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 27 | -7 | 20 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Palermo | | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 20 | -6 | 17 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Catania | | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Torino | | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 22 | -7 | 16 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Livorno | | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 19 | -3 | 15 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Atalanta | | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 28 | -11 | 11 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Siena | | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 9 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Ascoli | | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 9 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Mantova | | 15 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 25 | -15 | 4 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_teju

Sivok arrived on the first of the month (making it a round 50M I'd spent this season), which was just as well considering Cambiasso had gone for a Burton. He made the bench for the home game on the 6th with Atalanta. We were crap in the 1st half and I did my usual tantrum, wondering if my irritability was getting a bit old. Shortly after the break, Stankovic played in Ashton, who floated it delightfully over the keeper. Iaquinta sealed a vital, if drab win, with just a minute left, heading in a Recoba back post cross.

On the 8th I decided to sign Juve's utility midfielder Andrea Gasbaroni on a Bosman for next season. He'd been performing well for them, and looked like a really good complimentary signing, covering all the midfield positions.

Sivok's debut came along with the rest of the reserves on the 9th, in a meaningless Italian cup tie at Chievo. The team went down 1-0, a really s**t performance. I didn't care. Sivok was average, however I was confident he would be a really good signing.

We then had to play them in the league four days later, at the same venue. I broke the habit of a lifetime and asked Ashton to take an injection, such was our desperate injury situation. He not only refused (quite rightly), but was really p****d off, and the two of us had a shouting match. I told him straight that he was right to complain about the injection, but I wouldn't tolerate any lip from him. He claimed I'd threatened to thump him, and to be honest I can't remember what happened. It was a pretty heated exchange anyway. The pressure was on us all.

In the event he played injured anyway. Olivier Dacourt, whom I had bombed out 18 months earlier, scored against us. Naturally. We were desperately poor right throughout the game, badly missing all our players. I was angry, and baffled too. With it being January, I lost my patience and transfer listed Kirkland, Toldo, Samuel, Zaccardo, Vieira and Zicu. I had to do something. I also tied up the Bosman signing of Brazilian attacking midfielder Lincoln, who'd been having a great season for Gelsenkirchen. I wondered if I'd be here when he arrived.

Ridiculously, we then played Chievo again, the home leg in the cup. The reserves were in again, and Samuel did his first team chances a power of good by getting sent off for kicking someone 28 minutes in. I essentially gave up, and didn't care anyway, only for Iaquinta to thump home a Cassano cross on 70 minutes. Choutos then fired in on 75 and Iaquinta sealed the tie with a super sidestep and finish on 78. We deserved it over the two legs. I only wished we could play like this in the league.

The aforementioned Choutos had decided to join Torino for next season. I couldn't blame him, I never gave him a fair shake here. In other news, both Adriano and Ibrahimovic returned to training. The newspapers were starting to turn on me too. Stories appeared that I was "beleaguered" and "desperate". The latter was true, in that I started the half-fit strike duo for the home game against Catania. Andreolli came in for the suspended Alex, while Sivok kept out Vieira. Ibrahimovic scored an outstanding cross shot into the top corner after three minutes, and added a second on 17, slamming home an Abidal cross. We conceded a horrible defensive goal just before the half, and all I could do was try and relax the lads during the break. We saw it home without any alarms, yet it was a skittish win, and further underlined how important our top two strikers were.

On the 23rd we visited Sampdoria in the Italian Cup. I mixed reserves and regulars. Goals from our star men Ibrahimovic and Adriano gave us a 2-0 win. They got some more game time in, which was vital, and managed to come through unscathed.

A tough game at home to Napoli followed on the 26th. They got a man sent off, and Adriano drilled in a wicked free kick after 10 minutes. On 23, Ibrahimovic smashed in a great cross shot, and scored a similar goal just after the hour to kill the game off. They ended up with only 9 men after another sending off. Still, it was a good performance against a decent team. I was particularly pleased with the defensive tweaks I'd made too. Chiellini was now playing left back, with Abidal in the centre. It worked well, and looked a lot more solid.

We finished up the month with an easy progression in the Italian cup, the return leg against Samp.

The big news concerned me though. Rumours were circulating that the board were jittery about our prospects of winning the title. Failure in that department might mean the sack for me. My job seemed safe for now, but the rumours were definitely out there. I talked to Moratti about it, and he refused to guarantee my position, so it seemed there was something to these rumours. I thought the idea of me being fired was laughable, though at the same time I understood they had very high standards here. I was at peace with myself whatever happened, and felt I had done a pretty good job.

retired_teju

I received a phone call at the start of the month from a so-called journalist working for The Sun. He wanted my reaction to an article that had appeared in Hello magazine, an interview with Kelly Taylor, whom readers might remember was a gorgeous BBC hack that I had a long relationship with when I was manager of Nottingham Forest, and who was now a major sports journalist in the UK. I was disappointed, and thought she was classier than that.

In the article, she apparently professed that she still loved me (I wasn't aware that she did in the first place). To my relief, it didn't contain any bedroom revelations, apart from the slightly bizzare note that she used to play "Through The Fire" by Chaka Khan when we made out (I didn't recall that part either). I was just glad that she didn't mention that I used to play my Jon and Vangelis CD when I was drunk. That would have been a serious blow to my angry man image. I brushed the whole thing off, saying I had more important things to worry about, namely the visit to Ascoli on the 3rd. In the meantime, I also hid my Jon and Vangelis CD in the bottom of a suitcase, in case Carla found it and had a good laugh at my expense.

Ibrahimovic started us off after 4 minutes, a low finish after being put clean through. Just before the break, Adriano drove in a superb bending shot from the edge of the box. It was enough to give us the three points that everyne expected. Cambiasso returned to training the next day, and would be available (probably only from the bench) for the biggest game of the season coming up on the 9th, a home date with Roma.

The build up to the game was something else. Their manager, Luciano Spaletti, boasted that they would win, and also win the title. I countered (unusually for me since I don't get involved in that s**t) that we would have no trouble beating them, and they were Championship imposters anyway. The other sub plot was the continuing speculation about my future. The fans were still 100% behind me, and let me know in a very heartwarming way in the lead up to the game.

The stadium was full hours before kick off, and the big supporters groups on the Curva Nord all had banners in support of me. Brianza Alcoolica had a cartoon banner of me drinking a pint while holding the Scudetto trophy in my other hand, which was hilarious. The Ultras had a banner with a picture of Carla, and words that loosely translated as "give her one for us Madman!". These fans were amazing when they were on your side. The rendition of "Il Mato li amiamo" as I walked to the dugout was awe inspiring. I knew Moratti was watching all this, and hoped he was taking notice.

Not surprisingly, the lads were in a lather and I almost had to calm them down. In the 13th minute, Willy Sagnol was sent off for a professional foul (quite rightly). Grosso blasted in the resulting free kick, a peach into the top corner. Cue Bedlam. Seven minutes later, Grosso produced a superb cross, allowing Stankovic to double our lead with a header. After the break Adriano headed Ibrahimovic in to float in our third, and now I was determined to humiliate the visitors. Adriano then produced a lovely cross for an easy Ibrahimovic finish, then the Brazilian hit man converted a penalty 3 minutes after that.

They scored in the fag end of injury time which annoyed me. Yet 5-1 was just as humiliating as 5-0. I went after Spaletti, telling him they were mere pretenders and that the pressure was now heaped on them. I really believed that too, and the lads loved it. Moratti was full of praise, though I kept him at arms length, still irritated by his lack of backing when those stories came out.

In midweek, we faced a trip to Livorno who had just sacked their manager, and I was determined we wouldn't undo the hard work of the weekend. An Ibrahimovic hat-trick provided an easy win for us. However our star man was injured on 81 minutes and the devastating news was that he'd broken his ribs, gone for two months. At least we were now breathing down Roma's necks, though they had a game in hand.

Ashton was his replacement for the tricky trip to Torino on the weekend. Recoba, in for the injured Grosso, got us a good start with a 13th minute free kick special. We held on for the win, but they laid siege to our goal, and Kirkland won us the game with his display. Too bad the rest of the team were rubbish, otherwise we mightn't have needed those kind of heroics.

Our European adventure continued in midweek, a knockout tie against Feyenoord that I thought we should win easily. Adriano limped off after 5 minutes, and we still played absolutely atrociously. All the pressure, all the shots (miles wide), and then succumbed to a ridiculous long range shot on 59 minutes. It was infuriating, and I let the players have it, letting them know in no uncertain terms that much better would be expected at home to Fiorentina at the weekend.

Their manager mouthed off beforehand, and I invited the players to shove his words down his throat. After total control early on, Stankovic blasted one in from the corner of the box after 26 minutes. On 35, Camoranesi's near post cross was terrifically finished by Ashton. The Englishman played in Adriano late on to seal the points with a trademark finish, to complete a terrific win. I gave both barrels to their manager, Prandelli, after the game, because I was still angry about the Feyenoord game. He had nothing to say in return of course.

The month closed with a midweek trip to Parma. Chiellini's first for the club, after a bad goalkeeping error, coupled with strikes from Ashton and Adriano gave us a 3-1 win. An efficient and professional performance which pleased me.

The board were suddenly pleased with me too. Like I said though, I was p***ed off with their recent attitude, so my response to their fawning at the monthly board meeting was a series of monosyllabic grunts.

retired_satishgraj

Loving the thread!

retired_iva terry

loving it... :cool:

retired_teju

Thanks Guys, I will keep it up as regularly as possible. My Ottawa Senators are playing in the Stanley Cup Finals at the minute, so that's at the forefront of my mind till the end of next week

retired_russo56

Great story, irishregan...one of my favorites on the forum.

As you can probably tell by my user name, I'm a huge Rangers fan. My condolences on your Sens being ousted in five, but you have to admit, the Ducks deserved it and proved their superiority. Still, congrats on a good season - that should have been us testing you in the ECF...we should have taken out the Sabres in five.

Keep up the good work!

retired_teju

Thanks a lot NYR! Yes, Anaheim were superior in the series, and full credit to them, but just about everybody thought (and still thinks) Ottawa were the better team. Especially after the way they destroyed Buffalo. Ananheim played to their best, Ottawa played as badly as I've ever seen them play. They choked. So yes, Anaheim deserved it. Personally I thought Buffalo were the best team, so they choked even worse than Ottawa did. As for the Rangers, at least they make the playoffs these days, so we can both sit and laugh at the pathetic money-grabbing Leafs!

On the 1st of March, we travelled to Siena. Sivok blotted his copy book with me, getting two early yellow cards. They were both silly fouls, though I was also angry at the ref, who was just trying to get his name in the papers with his officious nonsense. My mood was eased on 27 minutes, when Grosso blasted in one of his free kicks. For a side with 10 men we weren't exactly hanging on, and proceeded to waste loads of chances. I feared the worst, however there was no sting in the tail. We were the better side by a distance, even with ten men. I was delighted with the lads, even more so given the news that Roma had only drawn at Empoli. We were slowly but surely reeling them in.

My 100th game in charge of the club came at home in the return Champions League tie with Feyenoord. I'd won 73% of them, scoring 212 goals and conceding 71. I was proud of that, whatever anyone says about trained monkeys being able to manage good teams. I knew I'd done a good job.

With 51 seconds gone, Ashton erased the first leg deficit with a great finish, after being played in by Adriano. I was livid just before half time, when one of their lot perpetrated a blatant professional foul on Adriano, only getting a yellow card. However, Grosso punished them with the resulting 20 yard free kick, and everything seemed to point to a win for us. On the stroke of half time, Grosso crossed for a powerhouse finish from Adriano, and I was sitting on the bench thinking this could be a blowout. Stankovic out-jumped the keeper 2 minutes after the re-start to seal the deal. An own goal from them and an easy Iaquinta tally finished off a real thrashing, and I didn't mind telling the lads, the press, and anyone else that we were sensational. I was still buzzing when I got home to Carla, and put in a performance to remember with her too!

A home league game with Mantova on the 9th looked a banker. I slightly arrogantly put in a fair few reserves. We struggled, not in creating chances, but finishing them. Ashton spared our blushes on 80 minutes with a tidy finish, and on 86, Cassano played in Iaquinta in a very cute move and finish. We'd gotten away with it a little bit, and trooped off the pitch to hear that Roma had drawn again, placing them 5 points behind us with 2 games in hand. Though I dare not blab to the lads, I thought the title was as good as won at that point. They were under all sorts of pressure despite mathematically being able to pass us with their games in hand. I thought we'd broken them.

Two items of news on the 10th. The injury curse had struck again, Ashton having broken his arm. He would be out a month. In contract news, Andreolli had signed up for 4 years worth 3M, after a little bit of messing around when he grossly overvalued himself. Once I told him that he wasn't irreplacable, he had his agent fall into line.

Ibrahimovic returned to training midweek. Being a fit lad, I had no doubts about throwing him in for the weekend trip to Empoli. He started off like a house on fire, but him and everyone else missed all the chances under the Sun. Of course Empoli then scored after 68 minutes, and I thought we were in for daylight robbery. Instead Iaquinta replied on 70 with an angled drive, and a minute later, Ibrahimovic ran clean through to give us what would be the winning goal.

Empoli's boss, Luigi Cagni and I were friendly, and he said after the match that he had no doubt we were going to win the league. I praised him in return, grateful that he had ratcheted up a little more heat on Roma, although they were already wilting in the face of our onslaught. They only drew again that Sunday, losing Totti to injury for the rest of the season. They then followed that up with a midweek loss in Naples, and I was sure we would win the title now.

The next weekend we entertained Udinese. We were confident and dominant. Ibrahimovic opened the scoring after 37, forcing home Grosso's long cross at the second attempt. We didn't finish them off until a Grosso penalty 14 minutes from time, for a foul on Ibrahimovic. Sub Iaquinta then headed in a Grosso cross just before time. Another comfortable win, another heap of pressure on Roma. Another fabulous performance from Grosso, who had gone from bench Jonny last season to indispensable this.

The month closed with a tricky away trip to Chievo. Sivok powered in a header from a cross by that man Grosso after 12 minutes, and the Italian international continued playing a blinder by smacking in another one of his free kicks on 18. The home side really fought back hard and gave us lots of problems from thereon in. Sivok put through his own net on 57 and we had to weather the storm. Weather it we did, for another priceless three points. We played poorly but won, and that was all that concerned me.

The board were lining up to sing my praises these days of course, which made me want to puke. They raked in their usual obscene profit too, this time 3M.