[Doctor]

Are you guys happy that Berlusconi owns the club or would you rather have someone else in charge?

[kurtsimonw]

Someone else. Anyone else.

[Locke Lamora]

Someone else. Anyone else.

Surely not anyone else...

(IMG:http://www.blackberryitalia.it/image/media/Image/news/408/lpk16_lapo-elkann.jpg)

[Jack Sparrow]

I'm happy, so long as he is transparent. Either say you won't put up money or say you will. One second you want the club to be self sufficient, the other second, he's putting up 20 million to buy some player who gave him a boner.


I wouldn't be against him selling some shares to raise money though. No owner can be expected to shell out money the way Silvio has for the team in a quarter-century. Roman's already stopped, and he's only been in 10-12 years.

The flipside, is that if Silvio keeps putting in money, nothing's ever gonna be done by the FIGC to actually change the rules to make the Serie A financially competitive. The Serie A- Serie B divide happened only a couple of years ago. How strange!

It hurts hard in the short run...but I think it will pay off.

[Bluesummers]

I'm happy, so long as he is transparent. Either say you won't put up money or say you will. One second you want the club to be self sufficient, the other second, he's putting up 20 million to buy some player who gave him a boner.


I wouldn't be against him selling some shares to raise money though. No owner can be expected to shell out money the way Silvio has for the team in a quarter-century. Roman's already stopped, and he's only been in 10-12 years.

The flipside, is that if Silvio keeps putting in money, nothing's ever gonna be done by the FIGC to actually change the rules to make the Serie A financially competitive. The Serie A- Serie B divide happened only a couple of years ago. How strange!

It hurts hard in the short run...but I think it will pay off.

wise words and unforunately this is the reality. If Italy wakes up and realises that in order to be successful they need better stadiums, better marketing and a better overall image; they will rise again to the top.

But with guys like Silvio and Morratti splashing the cash, whats the need for change? As long as Italy is represented in CL, FIGC probably could care less about anythign else.

[LaPalma]

I'm happy, so long as he is transparent. Either say you won't put up money or say you will. One second you want the club to be self sufficient, the other second, he's putting up 20 million to buy some player who gave him a boner.


I wouldn't be against him selling some shares to raise money though. No owner can be expected to shell out money the way Silvio has for the team in a quarter-century. Roman's already stopped, and he's only been in 10-12 years.

The flipside, is that if Silvio keeps putting in money, nothing's ever gonna be done by the FIGC to actually change the rules to make the Serie A financially competitive. The Serie A- Serie B divide happened only a couple of years ago. How strange!

It hurts hard in the short run...but I think it will pay off.

Right now, the main problem is the taxation win Italy which is significantly fore high incomes than it is in Spain and England. Spanish and English top clubs can simply pay higher net incomes (at least for now).

[Bluesummers]

Right now, the main problem is the taxation win Italy which is significantly fore high incomes than it is in Spain and England. Spanish and English top clubs can simply pay higher net incomes (at least for now).

True. But if they fixed stadiums, they could generate more revenue and work around that.

[LaPalma]

Fixing all those stadiums or buying new one is costly and right now the clubs don't have the money to afford it. And as long as the standard in Italy is low better stadiums won't be a priority to the clubs. To kick of something like this you need a big tournament IMO, like the Euro or the World Cup cause in this case the clubs will get money from the state as they need to give UEFA or FIFA top stadiums.
Also, many stadiums in Spain aren't very good either. Serie As problem is the hangover from the roaring 90ies when Serie A dominated European football and even Parma spent 40 million on a single player. look at big clubs like Roma and Lazio. Their financial power is a joke. Right now, Italian football lacks a middle class. Juve, Milan and Inter are still right there on top in terms of prestige and financial potential. But most other clubs aren't very competitive. The recent results in the Europa league are a clear indicator.

[Jack Sparrow]

Weren't you gonna build us one? You and that architect ex-boyfriend of yours?

[LaPalma]

Builiding one and building twenty is a huge difference my friend.

[dst]

Right now, Italian football lacks a middle class.

Italian society I'd say.

[Doctor]

You mised my question entirely.
I ment do you mind Berlusconi in terms of what he represents in terms of caracter and politics and not the amount of money he invests in the club.
OK, I should have been more precise in what I was interested in.

[Fishdoll]

I tend not to comment on politics.

[Protagonist]

Its normal for a club to endure a boom-bust cycle, it happened with all the top clubs, and we are not God's gift to football per-say. But if we were to consider someone else to lead our club, it will be either an American investor like Gillete/Glazer or an Arab. Both would bring a lot of change, and would definitely do some movements in the market, but long-term? I don't think they are interested in long-term, and by saying that I think I'm more comfortable with the devil I know (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)