[Forza Milan!]

You say that, but who's the one who sanctions the cash? Berlu! And as commercial and financial director, his daugher Babs.

Galliani is a sneaky little two-bit liar, not denying it, but he can only work with the budget he's given.

And that's down to B&B.

Yes, the Berlus share the blame. However, the budget is in large part impacted by salaries (plus taxes we pay on these salaries). IMHO, Milan budget is inflated because of players that dray much higher salaries than they would get elsewhere, most of which we got as "parametro zero" and many of which are not that good. Think Mexes (parametro zero, arguably a good player when he does not start fights, but at a yearly cost of 4M salary + 4M taxes, all for the pleasure of having him warm the bench), Matri (this one cost us real money plus has a high salary, which I believe we are still paying), Muntari (in the worthless + high salary category), and so on.

Bottom line, our transfer policy is all messed up, and that is Galliani's making IMHO. AFAIAC we would be much better off looking for a few good players with promise (even if they cost a little money upfront). Build a team, even if it means taking some risks and possibly staying mid table for a couple of years (its not as if we are doing much better with our current "grand strategy").

[Fillipo Simone]

Btw. what's with Barbara? At one point, it looked like she's the crucial person for Milan, but nowadays you can hardly see her third, behind Berlu and Galliani.

[han2503]

Not so. Any attempt to sign another AVERAGE CB at this point would be.

We need a quality partner for Alex, and I admit Paletta and he doesn't work, as doesn't he and Mexes. Zaps does, but won't happen, so if we can get a GOOD partner then we're getting somewhere.

I know nothing of this guy though.

I guess I thought that went without saying since we all know that our range for searching out players is between the mediocre to average.

Sure we need a top CB, desperately so. Mexes is most likely out of the picture in the summer, for me that only means we're losing one decent player among the other very average ones we have. Paletta is just not good enough, he's Rami/Zapata level for me. Bocchetti, Bonera, Zaccardo, Antonelli are all below average. Sure Antonelli has had a decent start but so did Mesbah

From our current endless line of defenders, the ones I'd keep would very few and I can practically count on one hand

You say that, but who's the one who sanctions the cash? Berlu! And as commercial and financial director, his daugher Babs.

Galliani is a sneaky little two-bit liar, not denying it, but he can only work with the budget he's given.

And that's down to B&B.

Sure, that's true, but Galliani has also been the mastermind behind some epic failure moves. Which cost us money, money that could have been used much more intelligently.

And let's not go into these free agents he straps around our ankles that we have to carry for the duration of their ridiculous over priced contracts. Not to mention all the contracts extensions he handed/hands out to old players who don't contribute to the team or terrible players like Muntari who just got his contract renewed last summer for an even better pay package.

He might not be the one who's in control, but Silvio has given him free license to do as he wishes for far too long and some of the "genius" moves he's pulled off is the reason why we're in the situation we're in

Btw. what's with Barbara? At one point, it looked like she's the crucial person for Milan, but nowadays you can hardly see her third, behind Berlu and Galliani.

Well she is the one behind the new stadium project, I think she's working a lot behind the scenes nowadays since her attempt to overthrow Galliani failed.

[han2503]

Yes, the Berlus share the blame. However, the budget is in large part impacted by salaries (plus taxes we pay on these salaries). IMHO, Milan budget is inflated because of players that dray much higher salaries than they would get elsewhere, most of which we got as "parametro zero" and many of which are not that good. Think Mexes (parametro zero, arguably a good player when he does not start fights, but at a yearly cost of 4M salary + 4M taxes, all for the pleasure of having him warm the bench), Matri (this one cost us real money plus has a high salary, which I believe we are still paying), Muntari (in the worthless + high salary category), and so on.

Bottom line, our transfer policy is all messed up, and that is Galliani's making IMHO. AFAIAC we would be much better off looking for a few good players with promise (even if they cost a little money upfront). Build a team, even if it means taking some risks and possibly staying mid table for a couple of years (its not as if we are doing much better with our current "grand strategy").

Yep

[Danny]

Btw. what's with Barbara? At one point, it looked like she's the crucial person for Milan, but nowadays you can hardly see her third, behind Berlu and Galliani.

Like Han says she's basically 100% focused on Milan Arena, which is under her jurisdiction. As he also pointed out, her attempt at getting rid of Galliani failed, so with no influence over signings other than aspects of budget, she's simply not got the influence she wants.

She has the same ambitions as us fans, but hamstrung by Daddy's purse-strings and Galliani's stubbornness.

That said I am curious that she publicly fired Allegri but has said nothing about Pippo despite him being way worse.

[han2503]

Like Han says she's basically 100% focused on Milan Arena, which is under her jurisdiction. As he also pointed out, her attempt at getting rid of Galliani failed, so with no influence over signings other than aspects of budget, she's simply not got the influence she wants.

She has the same ambitions as us fans, but hamstrung by Daddy's purse-strings and Galliani's stubbornness.

That said I am curious that she publicly fired Allegri but has said nothing about Pippo despite him being way worse.

However I feel that unlike us fans her "good" intentions are only there for her own personal benefit.

She wants to turn Milan into a profitable well-run company so she can get the best amount of money possible for when the old man dies and she and her siblings sell up

[Danny]

However I feel that unlike us fans her "good" intentions are only there for her own personal benefit.

She wants to turn Milan into a profitable well-run company so she can get the best amount of money possible for when the old man dies and she and her siblings sell up

Shock horror. Heir in 'wanting to get big inheritance' scandal!

I know someone connected with Rangers, and they are more concerned in getting a big inheritance for themselves than investing that money in the club.

Money rules the world.

[X-Offender]

Bocchetti, Bonera, Zaccardo, Antonelli are all below average. Sure Antonelli has had a decent start but so did Mesbah

No Han, you can't put Antonelli on the same category as Mesbah. He's a very reliable defender, and has shown it for quite some time at Genoa.

[Danny]

Until MDS shows all the promise he did two years ago, there is no contest for the LB slot.

Antonelli has justified his selection with aplomb and is not just the best for that slot, but right now one of the team's best performers, period.

Not saying a lot, I know, but no less true.

[Forza Milan!]

Interesting article

Says our biggest problem is the midfield (no surprise there) and that changes are coming this summer (would really like to believe that, but I no longer know what to believe). Says Muntari is on his way out (would like to believe that as well). Links us with Baselli, Valdifiori, and Kedeira (not sure if I believe Kedeira, especially as his salary is supposed to be 7M, which is well beyond our self-imposed limit).

[han2503]

No Han, you can't put Antonelli on the same category as Mesbah. He's a very reliable defender, and has shown it for quite some time at Genoa.

I'm personally just not convinced, and really he did well at Genoa? They let him go for basically nothing and wasn't their starter as far as I know.

He's so far started decently. Made a few mistakes, namely on the Tevez goal imo.

I'm just not sure about him, especially long term

[X-Offender]

Interesting article

Says our biggest problem is the midfield (no surprise there) and that changes are coming this summer (would really like to believe that, but I no longer know what to believe). Says Muntari is on his way out (would like to believe that as well). Links us with Baselli, Valdifiori, and Kedeira (not sure if I believe Kedeira, especially as his salary is supposed to be 7M, which is well beyond our self-imposed limit).

Bild writes that Khedira is very close to joining Schalke... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

I'd love to have the guy here. He'd be perfect as De Jong's replacement. And his contract expires this summer!

I'm personally just not convinced, and really he did well at Genoa? They let him go for basically nothing and wasn't their starter as far as I know.

He's so far started decently. Made a few mistakes, namely on the Tevez goal imo.

I'm just not sure about him, especially long term

He was Genoa's captain, man. Played 18 games for Genoa this season before joining us, all of them as starter as far as I know. And yes, he was good for them.

A few mistakes are understandable in a team where everything is a mess. He's been solid for us so far everything considered, it's unnatural to think otherwise.

[Fillipo Simone]

Skeptical about Khedira. I'd rather pass. The guy puts up every now and then a brilliant performances, but has no consistency. Also, he's very injury-prone, which isn't good for us.

[X-Offender]

Come on, if we're picky even about a player of Khedira's caliber, there's no point. Agreed about his injuries though, that could be a problem.

[Fillipo Simone]

We must be picky especially about that kind of caliber. Look, we're not Chelsea who can sign 3-4 big names and afford every other to turn into a "Shevechenko" or "Veron". We got one spot for a big name midfielder, now we should carefully think if it should be Khedira who'd be (most probably) our top earner or someone else.