[MizNelson]

Although I really want Gattuso to be out there again, I think we survived Shevchenko and Kaka, I think we can survive him. Considering our position in the league, I think we can move on without him.

Agreed. He's been injured nearly all season and we're playing well without him, which makes the timing of his comments not so smart.

[somedevil]

sell gattuso buy zuculini !

[servbot]

I think Milan will be OK without him, but I would love to see him stick around, and reclaim some of his old form. I haven't seen him play for Milan in his prime, but Gattuso being on Milan was one of the things that attracted me to this club. I loved watching him in the 06 World Cup.

Sell Flamini instead, imo. Let Gattuso be our crazy midfielder.

This post has been edited by servbot: Dec 1 2009, 11:01 PM

[Guest_Suhail 3_*]

I think Milan will be OK without him, but I would love to see him stick around, and reclaim some of his old form. I haven't seen him play for Milan in his prime, but Gattuso being on Milan was one of the things that attracted me to this club. I loved watching him in the 06 World Cup.

Sell Flamini instead, imo. Let Gattuso be our crazy midfielder.

why on earth should we sell flamini - one of the greatest steals of last season hes 24-25 gattuso has lost his touch and judging on those comments the plot too if any DM is to be sold its gattuso not even ambro - sorry i dont really treat players like royalty if there perfoming great and happy if there not even playing and are moaning about leaving then let them

[Bluesummers]

selling gattuso? We will be selling an italian international, a legend of the country and the club and a potential future staff member.

His replacment won't be any of those, it'll probably be a washed up gago.

[MizNelson]

selling gattuso? We will be selling an italian international, a legend of the country and the club and a potential future staff member.

Neither of these are relevant if he's injured for a good portion of the season and doesn't have much left in the tank.

[Bluesummers]

Neither of these are relevant if he's injured for a good portion of the season and doesn't have much left in the tank.

yeah but its not just selling a player. Were not selling a mercenary here. Were selling a club icon. Its like selling Kaka; selling gattuso is just not right, especially not over something silly like playing time, which can be given easily.

[dst]

You do sell a club icon when he's not behaving like one... if Gattuso wants to be played just because he's been here all these years and not because he deserves to then we should show him the door.

He should be willing to fight for his place.

[Danny]

You do sell a club icon when he's not behaving like one... if Gattuso wants to be played just because he's been here all these years and not because he deserves to then we should show him the door.

He should be willing to fight for his place.

Indeed. I don't ever recall a single comment of this nature during Maldini's last few seasons here - had regular injuries but when fit was often left out altogether, and not a word of complaint was ever heard. Or anything about being indispensible.

A truly dignified pro was Paolo, gracious till the end, even if I felt his 2 or 3 u-turns over retirement were highly misguided.

And he was here a bit longer than Gattuso...

[Danny]

yeah but its not just selling a player. Were not selling a mercenary here. Were selling a club icon. Its like selling Kaka; selling gattuso is just not right, especially not over something silly like playing time, which can be given easily.

Whether I agreed or not, Kaka was regarded as our most important player and our best one, who the team didn't function in the absence of. Gattuso's absence, however, clearly hasn't affected us, especially in the last 2 or 3 months since it's started to click.

You can't easily give playing time either - if your first 11 is doing the business, how do you accommodate one player's ego just because he demands to play? You risk upsetting the balance you've painstaking created.

Lastly, there's no 'not right' about it - the guy is on vast wages - earns more a week than most of us in 3 years. To come out and let his opinion of his importance overide the health of the team is in no way worthy of being condoned.

And remember I have a particular affinity with Gattuso, having met him many years ago in his Rangers days, who I support as you all know, and then he's gone to my other club.

So my opinion is despite my bias towards him.

[Zed.D]

The question is, has Rino really said these things? did he mean what we're basing our judgments on?

[Tennie]

Yeah, he really said them. they replayed the interview a zillion times the last two days I was in Italy.

At first, I was full of outrage for the way the club's been treating the senior guys (starting with Maldini but including Pippo and Rino) but y'know, the more I think about it, the more I admire what Pippo's done -- stated calmly that he's at the coach's disposition and would always be happy to play -- rather than Rino going out and griping to the press. I'm tempted to think Rino's throwing his toys out of the pram now that he's not a 100% guaranteed starter. And that's not cool.

[Danny]

The question is, has Rino really said these things? did he mean what we're basing our judgments on?

Well he has had plenty of time to clarify what he meant, but hasn't done so. Which means what we think he meant in the first place is pretty much what he meant.

[han2503]

Tennie can you give us his exact quotes please?

[Tennie]

Here's the text of the Mediaset article about it.

Rino Gattuso non riesce più a mordere il freno e scuote l'ambiente del Milan dichiarando apertamente tutto il suo scontento per la prolungata assenza dal campo, dovuta non solo al recente infortunio alla coscia. "Non sono l'ultimo arrivato - è sbottato "Ringhio"- quando sto bene voglio giocare, non posso aspettare che per farlo si infortuni qualcun altro. Non sono contento, così non va. Parlerò con Galliani e vedremo quali decisioni prendere".




Un'esternazione senza giri di parole, diretta, sincera, come nello stile dell'uomo Rino Gattuso, simbolo e capitano "in pectore" di una squadra che vede andare avanti anche senza di lui. "Non riesco a pensare di non essere più indispensabile per questa squadra - confessa - Ho parlato con Leonardo e mi ha spiegato le sue scelte, ho grande rispetto per lui. Non ho problemi con i miei compagni e tra l'altro Pirlo e Ambrosini stanno giocando benissimo. Ma io devo confrontarmi con il mio stato d'animo e ci devo convivere. Mi sento ancora forte e mi spiace non poterlo dimostrare. Il problema è che questo modulo con cui gioca il Milan certamente mi penalizza, così come mi ha penalizzato l'infortunio alla coscia che mi ha messo fuori. Fino a quando non rientro, le chiacchiere se le porta il vento. Però Non posso aspettare che qualcuno dei miei compagni si faccia male per giocare io dopo 11 anni di Milan. Non sono l'ultimo arrivato"

Una foga di sentirsi ancora muro maestro del Milan che, secondo Gattuso, non dipende anche dal timore di perdere la maglia azzurra. "Questo mio stato d'animo non dipende dai mondiali -assicura il centrocampista- ne ho sentite di cotte e di crude, ma il ct mi ha assicurato che mi portera' anche se dovessi giocare poco".

Lo sfogo rinfocolerà certamente le voci su un futuro ormai prossimo di un Gattuso lontano da Milanello. "Andarmene? Non lo so, vediamo, sicuramente devo parlare con la società. Quando? Credo che la pausa di fine anno possa essere un buon momento per fare il punto e chiarirci". Proprio alla vigilia della riapertura delle liste, quindi. E con Ancelotti pronto a ricevere una telefonata speciale: "Con Carlo ci sentiamo, ma per motivi personali. Non abbiamo mai parlato di questa eventualità", ha voluto chiarire Gattuso, la cui priorità rimane il Milan, "che è la mia casa". Da attore protagonista, però: "Ringhio" non fa la comparsa nemmeno negli spot.

Here's a link to the interview: clicky

In meetings for a while so can't do translation but there's the original for anyone else who cares to.