retired_zjx510

Agree with you on that .

Good to see you back soon Ted.

retired_D-P

FC Parma
----------------

Ennio Tardini:

After finishing dead last in the previous season, Parma have surprisingly turned to inexperienced Norwegian manager Stian Martinsen to bring the team back to the Serie A. Last season was a total disaster for the former UEFA Cup champions. The Gialloblù won only 4 games through the whole league campaign, waving goodbye to Serie A with only 23 points and a goal difference of -39.

The young Norwegian has a massive task ahead of him if he is to gain the respect of the players and bring Parma back to glory. We all remember important names in football making their breakthrough in Parma. The likes of Crespo, Cannavaro, Buffon, Adriano and Gilardino among many others, all made a name for themselves in Parma after being brought to the club as only average players. At his first press conference at the Ennio Tardini, Martinsen spoke about how he was looking to bring in new players to shine just like these. He said that he was confident he was the right man to help the club back to the Serie A and eventually rise to the heights of the early/mid 90s. He left yesterdays press conference with a confident smile on his face, seemingly not affected by the pressure to reach promotion already during his first year in charge. People connected to Parma are waiting in excitement to see what kind of effect he will have on the clubs fortunes.

Forza Parma!

retired_nevkay

Albinonews!

Midfield croatian star Mario Carevic is about to join AlbinoLeffe.He is bored of Qatar and looking forward to return to europe. He will arrive in december.

..... and remember ....Albino will hammer you .... sooner or later ...... :cool:

retired_nevkay

Next session 25.8.2005 7 45 uktime in Slovenia,Piran .... :p

retired_confal2

Back in Edinburgh at last! Good stuff Stian, hopefully some of the 'older' members will start posting updates too.

Welcome back to Europe, Ted, must be a relief

Looking forward to tonight's session (first proper one in 6 weeks for me), even though Kuky's hosting it... :p

retired_trisha myette

PIAGOL!!! September Edition

When we stated two seasons ago that Piacenza would become one of the top clubs in Italy within the next 2-3 seasons, Davide 'Dello'Spliff' described the statement as the 'howler of the year'.

Piacenza proved last season, by qualifying for the Intertoto Cup, that they were a team to be reckoned with. However, their performances on the pitch, apart from a few excellent results against the likes of Juve, failed to convince anyone that they had the ability to achieve great things.

With the departures of Salomon Kalou and Thomas Buffel, two key players last season, it looked like Piacenza were going to struggle in the Serie A, unless French manager Alexis Manson managed to attract big names to replace them.

He has done exactly that. Mancini was bought for around 7 million euro, a bargain for a player of this quality. Something tells us Kalou will soon be forgotten by the fans. Lewandowski, a strong defender who can also play in midfield, was bought to strengthen an alarmingly weak defence.

Piacenza's start to the season has been impressive to say the least. They qualified for the UEFA Cup by beating Real Madrid in the final of the Intertoto, 1-0 at home, and then 2-0 at the Bernabeu Stadium.
They have also won their first three league games, including a 4-1 thrashing of Atalanta.

New signings Lewandowski, Mancini, and Donoso (former Albinoleffe star) have immediatly adapted to Manson's tactics, and have largely contributed to this explosive start.

It is of course too soon to tell whether Piacenza have a realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League this season, but if they can beat Real Madrid twice in a row, why shouldn't they be able to beat the likes of Milan, Roma, Inter, or AC Milan?

We said two seasons back that Piacenza might become one of the best Italian clubs within 2-3 years. We are now 2 years later, and already Piacenza have shown signs of a great club. They are 6 points ahead of As Roma after only 3 games. So we would like to ask you, who is laughing now, mister 'Dello'Spliff'?

retired_trisha myette

Piacenza Starting XI

1: Lastuvka
2: Melchiot/Lamey
3: Sigurdsson/Piva
4: Lewandowski
5: Faty/Koubsky
6: Zlogar
7: Mancini
8: Carter/Some Ghanean (I think??) DMC whose name I've forgotten
9: Pazzini/Zigic
10: Calaio/Linz
11: Donoso/Perez

Piacenza have a bit of money left to spend, but left it too late to try and buy Eduardo Costa (DMC), they might decide to sign him during the January mercato if things aren't going as planned.
They might decide to sign a winger, as well as a striker on loan, in case one of their strikers suffers a long-term injury.

retired_zjx510

My broadband connection is moving to new house. So will be unable to play on crappy 56k for the next 2-3 weeks. I smell Cesena will be bottum soon this way

retired_D-P

Parma
------------------------------

In front of the new season Gialloblù is predicted favourites to grab the Serie B title, and secure a quick return to the topflight. The new manager has been given an excellent transfer budget, and will have no excuse for not achieving Serie A status at the end of the season. With money between his hands Martinsen got busy in the transfermarket already in his first weeks in charge. Some new faces have arrived, showing that Martinsen is serious about gaining promotion in his first year. The most important signing seems to be England striker Michael Owen, who joined the club on a free transfer, looking to get his career back on track in Italy. Also Mexican playmaker Juan Pablo Rodriquez, signed in a 4,2 million pound deal from Istres, is expected to make an immediate impact. The complete “transfers in” list look like this:

Michael Owen (No club)Free
Juan Pablo Rodriquez (Istres)4,2m
Thando Mngomeni (Helsingborg)925k
Ovidiu Petre (Chievo)925k
Lars Iver Strand (Vålerenga)825k
Lucien Mettomo (Piacenza)600k
Aliou Cisse (Cesena) 70k

retired_D-P

Parma
-----------------------------

The season opened with the group stages of the Italian cup. These games were treated more like pre-season frendlies, resulting in an early exit from the cup after 1 win and 2 draws.
The real action started with the Serie B opener home against Catania.
Catania (H) 3-0 win
The new signings secured a good start to the season with two pens from Rodriquez, and 1 goal from Owen.
Fiorentina (A) 3-4 loss
After leading 3-1 at half time, Parma collapsed and lost 4-3. Goals from Pienaar(2) and Owen.
Arezzo (H) 3-0 win
Napoli (A) 1-1 draw
Parma brought home one point from the once so mighty San Paulo stadium. Cisse goalscorer at
historical ground in Naples, where many players claimed to sense the spirit of the great Diego/ God.
Catanzaro (H) 2-0 win
Parma continues to stand out as a strong home team, with sub Degano scoring twice.
Verona (A) 1-1 draw
Away against James’ men was a tough game, and Parma will be happy with the result. Dalmat scored.
Reggina (H) 0-0 draw
First goalless match. Reggina goalie MOM.
Genoa (A) 1-1 draw
A disappointing draw after totally controlling the game. Genoa GK Carini stopped everything ending up with a 10 rating. Rodriquez scored the goal.