retired_xs2khizar

Monday 19th January 2004

We met with Francesco Erbini today to discuss personal terms. We are unable to offer him a pay rise on his previous contract but will be setting higher bonuses, and clauses beneficial to him. It is hard to get a good idea of how keen he was, but he has taken a few days to mull it over and has promised to let us know before the end of the week.

Vladimiro Caramel will miss a further 2 weeks after picking up a knock during training.


Thursday 22nd January 2004

Deportivo la Coruna have announced the signing of Brazilian midfielder Gilberto Silva for £10.5 million. Gilberto made over 60 appearances in an Arsenal shirt, collecting one FA Cup winners medal, and has been capped 21 times by his country.

Reigning European champions AC Milan have gone one better by spending £10.75 million on Leeds United's Australian forward Harry Kewell, beating Barcelona and Liverpool to the 25 year old's signature. The Milan supporters were in buoyant mood after manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed the completion of the transfer and turned out in force to welcome Kewell, who thanked them:
"It's great, y'know, I hope I can repay their enthusiasm through my performances on the pitch. It's a massive club, the fans are great as you can see and I'm looking forward to meeting my new team-mates. Getting the opportunity to work with top quality players was a major factor in my decision to come here".


In more important news, Serie C1/B side Catania have accepted our £1,000 bid for their want-away striker Eddy Baggio.

retired_xs2khizar

Sunday 18th January 2004

Tivoli are having a much less successful season than the last, down in 15th place. Carmelo Bonarrigo departed for his new club this very morning, so Manoni takes up his place on the right wing and Bonaffini fills in in midfield. Lupo replaces the injured Gallicchio as the lone striker.

Serie C2/C
Tivoli v Ragusa

Ragusa lineup - Di Giovanni; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Pellegrino; Bonaffini, Cirillo; Fonseca, Manoni; Lupo.

We get off to the worst possible start. In the 5th minute Galluzo's 20 yard free kick is deflected by Bonaffini in the wall, and although Di Giovanni gets down to parry the deflected shot it is turned in from close range by Bernardini following in.

Bonaffini went close at the other end, and after 30 minutes Gaspare Pellegrino was harshly booked for a deliberate hand ball. A few minutes later Tivoli got their second goal at the expense of young Di Giovanni, who fumbled a shot that was heading wide of the post and Gatti had the simple task of sticking it into the net.

As if two wasn't bad enough, with the last kick of the half the home side put themselves 3-0 up. Tivoli's Di Vincenzo crossed the ball into the box and Di Giovanni stepped out to claim it, but Scichilone got there first at the near post to nod into a gaping net.

Three down and the changing room is not a happy place, especially with me in it. I lay off poor Antonio though, because he already knows he was at fault for two of the goals and he's not the only reason why we are down by three goals already. We switch to 4-3-1-2, with Marco Cirillo asked to play in the hole behind Fonseca and Lupo.

In the 52nd minute we get one back, with Lupo flicking home Fonseca's near post corner for 3-1. It lasts an entire 120 seconds before Di Vincenzo's corner is forced home by Tivoli number 3 Toursel to make it 4-1. As an already unusual game descended to the ridiculous, a minute later Gaspare Pellegrino badly overhit a long ball forward from the halfway line that caught out the Tivoli keeper, and as it bounced back off the crossbar Lupo was following up well to tap in a freakish goal.

On 70 minutes there is disbelief of a different kind, when Pellegrino is whistled for an inch perfect tackle on Martini that the referee decided was somehow a foul. Gaspare is shown his second yellow followed by a red much to our incredulous dismay, and Bonaffini almost talked himself into the book during the protests.

In the 77th minute Fonseca was played into the area by Manoni but deliberated for far too long and was tackled, only for the referee to get it wrong again and award us a penalty. The Uruguyan did not complain and stepped up to take it, and in keeping with the bizarre nature of this match his penalty struck the inside of the post, hit the keeper and came out, only to drop for Fonseca to stick home the rebound and make it 4-3 to Tivoli.

Two minutes later Tivoli forward Coppola got up to head at goal from Bernardini's cross, and Di Giovanni made a mess of it by allowing it to bounce of him and into the net. Fortunately the goal is disallowed due to a push by Coppola on his marker, but the kid in goal is looking shakey so I drag him off and put Nicolas Cinalli on in his place. It doesn't help though; we could have had both goalkeepers in simultaneously and they still wouldn't have stopped Tivoli substitute Matrone rocketing a 25 yard screamer into the roof of the net five minutes from time.

Final score: Tivoli 5 - 3 Ragusa


Just a crazy, crazy match. Antonio Di Giovanni did not cover himself in glory and we will be without Pellegrino now for 2 matches, thanks to the ref's incompetence. We drop to 15th again.

retired_xs2khizar

Friday 23rd January 2004

There's a cause for double celebration today as we complete the signings of two new players: Francesco Erbini and Eddy Baggio.

Francesco accepted our offer and officially becomes a Ragusa player. Having scored 42 goals for Gela last season and 23 already this season, he should certainly be the solution to our difficulty in front of goal. £14,000 is quite a lot for a club of our size, especially for a 32 year old and when we are £150,000 in debt, but if he lives up to expectation and easily bangs in over 50 goals in the next couple of years then it should be worth it.

Eddy agreed to a substantial cut in wages to join us after an unhappy time at Catania. Last season he went on loan to Salernitana where he managed to score 18 goals in Serie B, but was forced to return to Catania where he was not enjoying himself despite bagging 8 goals in 9 starts this season. He is a very good all-round striker, strong, decent in the air and able to find the net.

This is a massive boost for the club and I'm excited by the prospect of our new starting strike partnership. Both strikers should settle in well, with Eddy's previous club Catania on the east coast of Sicily, and Francesco's former club Gela even closer on the south coast of sicily, so neither will have to move house and that should help.


Saturday 24th January 2004

Our head physio Salvatore Rinzillo came to me today telling me that he has been offered a job at Serie C2/B Baracca, who would be willing to pay us £1,000 in compensation. I assure Salvatore that we do not wish him to leave and I immediately advise the chairman that we should offer him a new contract. Salvatore will double his money and extend his stay here for 2 years, but with all the injuries we have had this year he has been working extra hard and deserves it.

Elsewhere the transfer window activity continues when Serie A giants Juventus sign Mario Melchiot for £5.5 million. The versatile Dutch defender spent 4 years at Chelsea since moving from Ajax.

retired_xs2khizar

Sunday 25th January 2004

It was touch and go but Eddy Baggio was just about registered in time to be eligible for our match away to L'Aquila, but due to not having spent any time with the other players he will only make the bench. L'Aquila, based in central Italy, are currently in 16th place and managed to hold us to a draw at the Aldo Campo Selvaggio in the season's opener.

We will be trying out an attacking 5-3-2 formation for this one, which we have not used since way back at the start of last season. Erbini will begin his Ragusa career by linking up with Claudio Gallicchio in attack with Daniel Fonseca in the hole behind them. Franco Chiavarini's injury has healed enough to return to the bench but key midfielder Gaspare Pellegrino starts his suspendion, and finally Di Giovanni's mistakes at Tivoli mean that I have little choice but to drop him and reinstate Nicolas Cinalli in goal.

Serie C2/C
L'Aquila v Ragusa

Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Italia, Attewell, Alderuccio; Tamburro(c), Sabellini; Cirillo, Manoni; Fonseca; Erbini, Gallicchio.

At half-time we are 1-0 down from an early L'Aquila goal, another typical near post header from a corner on 10 minutes. Our best chance of the half had fallen to Manoni as he got onto the end of Fonseca's free kick, but his header was saved and held.

During the break I switch back to 4-3-1-2, bringing Chiavarini and Eddy Baggio on to replace Italia and Gallicchio. It doesn't do much good and the home side extend their lead less than five minutes after kick off, Tatomir climbing highest again at a corner to score a second header. We struggled to keep possession all match and whimper to a defeat.

Final score: L'Aquila 2 - 0 Ragusa

retired_xs2khizar

Wednesday 28th January 2004

Emerging England U-21 star John Welsh has joined Arsenal from Liverpool for £7 million. The 20 year old scouser has exploded from nowhere in the last 12 months to become one of England's hottest young prospects, tempting Arsenal into taking a gamble on him. He is a versatile defensive midfielder who is also just as comfortable on the right of defence.


Saturday 31st January 2004

The last day of the winter transfer window has been hectic to say the least. The shock of the day is Henrik Larsson's move to Barcelona from Real Betis for a knockdown price of a mere £3.8 million. Larsson cost Betis £10 million just 18 months ago, a time period during which he scored 43 goals in 76 appearances and picked up the European Striker of the Year award to go with his Primera Liga and UEFA Cup winners medals. Perhaps the Swede's 32nd birthday was an influence on Betis cashing in when they could.

The sale might also have been necessary for Betis to secure funding for the incoming transfer of £8.25 million man Claudio Lopez from Lazio, announced shortly afterwards. The 29 year old Argentinian with the cultured left foot returns to Spain after leaving Valencia in 2000.

One striker leaving Spain is Roy Makaay, who departs from Deportivo to link up with Bayern Munich for £6.75 million pounds. The 28 year old Dutch forward made a good start to his Deportivo career but has faded out in the last season or two, clearly hoping that a move to Germany will revive his career.

Serie A team AS Roma have swooped to buy Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids from Juventus. The 30 year old was in his 7th season in Turin, but now takes his goggles to Rome for £8.5 million.

Inter Milan have signed Arsenal's Cameroon international Lauren for £8 million. Lauren had more than 3 years at Arsenal, winning the Premiership title and 2 FA Cups, but has clearly become expendable with the recent acquisition of John Welsh. It looks likely that Welsh will fill Lauren's right-back spot, a good business move for Arsenal as they gain £1 million in profit and find a player 7 years younger.

Unfortunately for Arsenal the other squad members don't see it that way, and club captain Patrick Vieira has voiced concerns on behalf of the other players that the club cannot hope to achieve success if they continue to sell their star players. This unrest has been building since the sale of Gilberto Silva to Deportivo last week, although Arsenal did then move for a direct replacement for the Brazilian by signing yet another Frenchman in Olivier Dacourt. The 29 year old midfielder cost £4 million from Leeds United.

Louis van Gaal's Arsenal are currently third in the Premiership, hot on the heels of Manchester United and Newcastle United in what looks like a similar three horse race to last season.

Liverpool decide to spend the John Welsh money on strengthening their midfield, by signing 25 year old former Manchester United youngster Jonathan Greening from Middlesbrough for £7 million.

retired_xs2khizar

Sunday 1st February 2004

Europe relaxes again as the transfer window comes to a close, which has even seen two new faces arrive at Ragusa:

Francesco Erbini
Position: Striker
Age: 32
Nationality: Italian
Transfer fee: £14,000
Previous clubs: Marsala, Sora, Gela.

Francesco's goalscoring record speaks for itself. Last season he netted 42 times in 39 appearances for Gela, and he has been doing more of the same this time round with 23 goals in 22 appearances. Over his career he is officially credited with a nice round 100 goals in 182 appearances, an exceptional achievement. He is a cultured striker with very good technique, who can hold the ball up effectively and who obviously knows all too well where the goal is.

Eddy Baggio
Position: Striker
Age: 29
Nationality: Italian
Transfer fee: £1,000
Previous clubs: Fiorentina, Prato, Giorione, Ancona, Ascoli, Catania.

Eddy's strike-rate is not quite as good as Francesco's but is still very respectable, and he is a steal at this price. He has also proven that he can score goals at a higher level when he bagged 18 on loan at Salernitana in Serie B. He is sound in the air and physically strong, and gives us two strikers very capable of holding the ball up to link play.


Despite all of the millions of pounds flying around European football these last few weeks, Cesena of Serie B announce that they have gone into receivership.

retired_xs2khizar

- February 2004 roundup - Part I -

Wednesday 4th - Serie C2/C - Gladiator v Ragusa

Pellegrino is still suspended and Caramel and Baggio are both unfit. After the lack of success with recent formations we switch to a more conventional 4-4-2.

Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Cirillo, Bonaffini, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Erbini.

After Sabellini had headed off the line and Cinalli had made a great save to keep it level, Pierleoni was adjudged to have been pushed by Alderuccio in the area. Fortunately D'Onghia put the penalty kick wide of Cinalli's left post, and on 33 minutes we paid them pay for the miss by taking the lead. Manoni crossed and Erbini showed why he was the ultimate poacher, being in exactly the right place for an easy finish to score his first goal for the club.

In the second half Gladiator keeper Di Muro made two fantastic saves to keep Erbini from getting a second, and then Pierleoni was left wide open in our area to equalise in the 77th minute.

Final score: Gladiator 1 - 1 Ragusa


Sunday 8th - Serie C2/C - Ragusa v Palmese

Pellegrino returns from suspension and Caramel is fit enough to make the bench, but Chiavarini picked up his 4th yellow against Gladiator and is suspended. Palmese sit in 2nd place at the time of their visit.

Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Cirillo, Pellegrino, Bonaffini; Fonseca, Erbini.

We are given the advantage as early as the second minute when Erbini is put clear and Balestrino is sent off for holding him back with a clear run on goal. 20 minutes later we edge in front, Fonseca linking with Tamburro again to finish with a delightful chip over Criscuolo for the Uruguayan's 7th league goal of the season. Midway through the second half Erbini makes it 2-0 with his second for the club, a diving header after some great work down the right by substitute Vladimiro Caramel.

Final score: Ragusa 2 - 0 Palmese


Saturday 14th February

Speaking to a national newspaper, our Argentinian goalkeeper Nicolas Cinalli has claimed that his personal problems are a thing of the past. He is back in the team and has regained his happiness, which in turn seems to have lifted the mood of the entire squad. I know that Nicolas has been trudging around looking glum for the last 12 months, but I admit I hadn't appreciated how much it could unsettle the rest of the squad.


Sunday 15th - Serie C2/C - Olbia v Ragusa

Olbia lie a point behind us, in 16th place. With all of our injuries clearing up we are for once able to name a full bench and more, so Lupo is the unlucky one to miss out entirely.

Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Cirillo, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Erbini.

Yet again, despite the time we spend in training working on defending set pieces, we are undone by two headers from two corners. In the second half, a near post header by Davide Bolognesi and a diving header by Nicola Manunza are enough to give Olbia all three points.

Final score: Olbia 2 - 0 Ragusa

retired_xs2khizar

- February 2004 roundup - Part II -

Sunday 22nd - Serie C2/C - Ragusa v Tricase

Just as all the injuries cleared up we are hit by another batch. Pellegrino damaged his elbow and Erbini twisted his knee so they will both be out for a week, and Baggio's introduction is delayed ever further by a shoulder injury putting him out for a fortnight.

Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Cirillo, Caramel, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Gallicchio.

Daniel Fonseca's penalty kick and Marco Cirillo's close range header put us 2-0 up at half time. Tricase's goalkeeper is former Napoli and Fiorentina keeper Giuseppe Taglialatela, who spent the 1993/94 season as Fonseca's teammate at Napoli before Daniel moved to Roma. He couldn't stop the penalty though, which was dispatched into the top corner emphatically by the Uruguayan.

In the 65th minute Fonseca got his second, collecting Manoni's deft cross to skip around his former teammate and pass into the open net. With 10 minutes remaining he then completed his hattrick, when Gallicchio was fouled 20 yards out and Fonseca whipped a low free-kick around the wall into the corner.

Final score: Ragusa 4 - 0 Tricase


Man-of-the-match Fonseca had obviously chosen to be in a good mood against Tricase, oozing confidence and showing why he spent most of his career in Serie A. It was a good team performance too, although Tricase were poor and didn't look like a 9th-placed side. We climb to 12th off the back of that win, finally jumping out of the relegation playoff zone to the expressed delight of the chairman.


Wednesday 25th February

The Champions League resumed with the new-look second round knockout rather than the old second group stage format. Goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan put Manchester United 3-0 up in Amsterdam by half-time, and although Ajax fought back to 2-3 it is looking good for United going into the 2nd leg.

The news is not so encouraging for Liverpool and Arsenal, who go down 3-0 at Roma and 2-0 at Betis respectively. The surprise result of the 1st leg involves AC Milan, who suffer a bruising night in Istanbul. Dida, Maldini and Nesta all hobble off injured as over 40,000 Turkish fans cheer Fenerbahce onto a 1-0 win, thanks to Akin Serhat's 2nd half strike.


Sunday 29th - Serie C2/C - Sassuolo v Ragusa

Sassuolo, based in northern Italy not far from Bologna, are up in 5th position in the table. Eddy Baggio and Manolo Manoni are both missing with injuries, though Pellegrino and Erbini make it back to full fitness in time.

Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Cirillo, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Erbini.

We get off to a terrible start, conceding a goal in the first three minutes to go 1-0 down. Fortunately the on-form Fonseca manages to bring it back to 1-1 before the half, making Sassuolo defender Fiumana look stupid by nutmegging him and spinning to fire a shot into the roof of the net.

Sadly we fall to pieces in defence in the second half. Riberto grabs his second to make it 2-1 to the home side, then some disgraceful defending allows them to extend the lead to 3-1. With 15 minutes left Sassuolo add another and we drift to yet another away defeat.

Final score: Sassuolo 4 - 1 Ragusa

retired_xs2khizar

Saturday 6th March 2004

Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is causing the pundits to run out of superlatives, scoring an impressive hat-trick on top of recent good form as United win 4-0 to stretch their lead at the head of the Premiership table to 4 points.

In Italy, Roberto Mancini has been sacked by Lazio. Lazio are only slightly above midtable and by all accounts there has been unrest amongst the playing staff for a while.

retired_xs2khizar

Sunday 7th March 2004

We return to our more familiar 4-3-1-2 formation as 9th placed Catanzaro come to the Aldo Campo Selvaggio. New signings Francesco Erbini and Eddy Baggio finally get to make their long awaited first full start as a partnership, with Daniel Fonseca in the hole behind.

Serie C2/C
Ragusa v Catanzaro

Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro(c), Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Cirillo, Pellegrino, Caramel; Fonseca; Erbini, Baggio.

In the 4th minute Marco Cirillo won the ball in midfield and laid it off to Fonseca, who sent a searching ball forward for Baggio and Caramel to chase in behind Catanzaro centre back Ciardiello. Caramel got there first, drew the keeper, jinked around him and finished well from a tight angle. 1-0 and an early goal is ours.

Our joy was short lived, when little over 5 minutes later Moscelli dribbled into our box and cut across the front of Pellegrino who was tracking back, and the referee awarded a penalty. Catanzaro number 8 Ascoli stepped up once more, the same player who had missed from the spot against us earlier in the season, and this time he blasted the penalty over the crossbar. Unbelievable!

Catanzaro began to apply pressure and Cinalli did well to deal with a 1v1 against Moscelli, but it was us who were in the more lethal mood. In the 24th minute Cinalli's low kick found Baggio wide open in the centre circle, who turned and ran at the away defence. A threaded diagonal pass through the middle of the two centre backs allowed Erbini to get in behind, and his calmly stroked a low shot with the inside of his right foot into the far corner. 2-0.

The second half seemed to be a formality, until in the 75th minute Catanzaro built up a move that culminated in Amrbosini turning Pellegrino and being tripped by Alderuccio in the area. This time Ascoli sensibley declined the chance and defender Zanutto stepped up to take the responsibility, but he did no better and scuffed the kick wide of the post!

Final score: Ragusa 2 - 0 Catanzaro