I think he's a fascinating person and an incredible coach. Same way I will watch a movie I don't really care for because of who directed it or who's starring in it, or a type of game I don't like that I'll play because of who made it.

Well, he is a great coach, and yes, he does have an interesting character. But if someone told me that Mourinho is a tw@t, then I wouldn't disagree with them.

Yeah he is a fascinating pr**k! Easily the worst person in sports I've ever seen.

So what is your opinion on Mourinho?

I can see why people don't like his front. I saw a great documentary on him and Fergie talked a lot on it. He basically said that what you sometimes see isn't really Mourinho and it's almost an alter ego he's invented and that everything that happens is done to create either an advantage or certain mentality to for his players.

I think people saying what they think in the game is a nice change. Ancelotti, Guardiola, etc. are such dull people. They have no character and never say anything of interest. I'll mostly turn pre/post-game interviews with them off, it's just some boring routine, like they're reading off a script.

Well that's the thing right? Don't we have enough drama queens on the pitch already? To me all this kind of provocation is totally unnecessarily. Between Suarez, Busquets and Mourinho, football has become close to a soap opera.

Ancelotti and Guardiola given excellent technical interviews. The sort of thing as a football fan I'm interested in. If people ask them stupid questions, or questions meant to elicit dramatic responses, well boo. I'd rather the reporters get educated, than my manager become entertaining interview candidates.

If I want to see entertaining press conferences I'll look up Jerry Springer on youtube. It's almost the same thing.

I don't believe that, I think very few of the things he does are meant to work in that way or can be justified that way.

I don't care what managers say in interviews, I'm not a journalist and I don't need an arrogant excuse of a man to lighten up my day.

Oh it absolutely is for that reason. The whole us vs the world mentality is exactly what he goes for, it creates a more united team.

So what do you think went wrong at Madrid? Not trying to bait you. I'm genuinely interested. I honestly thought Madrid was the club he would suit the best.

My opinion: Madrid is though I hate to say it quite like Milan. I believe we can best be compared to 'old-money' families. Class, splendour, trophies are taken for granted, so Mourinho will never be seen as the messiah in these clubs. Which means his force of personality is starting at a distinct advantage. To a loser(till-then) squad like Inter or even Chelsea, his abrasiveness and attitude comes across like that of a winner. If he throws it at a 'dressing room of champions, he is given the cold-shoulder coz they're all been-there-done-that.

Agreed. Madrid don't buy into it because they've won it all. If he were to lead them to their 10th European Cup I think it could change, but right now to the players he's just another coach in a way. I think he knows what he's doing though and with Ronaldo on his side he essentially has more power than the Spaniards at the club since they can't afford to lose Ronaldo.

I think a few Madrid players seem to think they can do no wrong though. They seemed fine with Jose last season, now they're not winning it's all gone wrong and Jose's not even been his controversial self.

I don't think Real Madrid will win it, not with this defense, and Casilas out injured. They had the perfect, perfect opportunity to buy Silva, even Ibra, even Pato, but the Brazilian defender at least should have been bought eyes closed for say $60 million. Only then they'd have had a smidgen of a chance.

Otherwise, they will keep on trying with brute force and falter at the semis or quarter again.

Exactly.

I don't understand spending 50m on Modric when you have SO much talent in midfield while your defence is in shambles.

I think they could have easily struck a deal for the same amount they paid for Modric with us and maybe included Kaka in the deal to sweeten it to get Thiago.

In which case both teams would have come out with better deals then they ended up with considering we sold BOTH Ibra and Silva for 65m, which was the stupidest thing we could have done imo

Roma 1-4 Cagliari

Goicoechea epic own goal

Oh dear...

Roma are in some deep sh!t..

LOL Stekelnburg is laughing his @ss off right now.

Zeman should stick to coaching bad teams and overacheiving. His philosophy does not work for teams that need to win more often than not.

Exactly.

Zeman fired.

Good. But Roma seem hopeless.

It's not Roma we should worry about, but Inter and Lazio.

I'm not "worried" about Roma. I have a faint interest in their success (when it doesn't interfere with Milan's). But they seem incapable.

How is it the stupidest? Or you just like swimming against the currents

Only you think it was great business, both on this forum and people I've talked to about it in person

The fact that we were offered nearly 50m for Thiago ALONE and then we rejected it due to our "heroic" ( ) president, extended his contract to a wage we couldn't sustain - needlessly might I add as Thiago would have been more than happy to stay on - and then proceeded to ship him off ALONG with our one man winning machine for a meeger 65m when players like Torres are sold off for the ridiculous sums of 50m. How can you even think that this was in any way a good deal???

Had we held off we could have sold both SEPERATELY for huge sums if we were that desperate to get their wages off our bill. What Galliani did this summer was idiocy to the nth degree.

But I don't think you have all the necessary information. Sure, when you put it like this, it sounds stupid. Still, I refuse to accept Galliani and Berlusconi are that stupid. And since we know zilch about the negotiation process and the proceedings, I won't comment on the stupidity of the men who made the deal.

It really seems unfavorable though.

You forgot the part where he then praised himself for saying the club would save X money after signing him to that ridiculous deal.

But this is Galliani we're talking about. He has the negotiating ability of a child. PSG probably offered us £100m and he got it down to 50.

Actually this is the case.

Imo the only thing that was hidden is that Silvio and Galliani wanted Ibra gone more then anything else, while PSG mostly wanted Thiago. It became a double deal after the initial rejection to the Silva offer because Galliani wanted to include Ibra in it and they compromised in this manner.

It's no secret that Ibra's 9m AFTER taxes was a huge burden on us.

BUT having said that, they could have sold both players if neccessary in a far more favourable manner. At least if we are to lose our 2 best players and 2 of the best players in Europe, Thiago arguable the best defender around, then they should have got the best price for both and sold them seperately to different clubs.

I'm sure Ibra would have loved to try his hand at the EPL, be the only player to win all 3 of the best leagues around. While Leonardo would have been happy to pay that 50m for Thiago alone as long as he got him

You can't say that they're not THAT stupid when Chelsea paid what they did for Torres, Luiz, Hazard, etc. Real paid that ridiculous sum for an idiot like Pepe.


And that!

For once we completely agree on something

Do you have facts on paper? Or are these media snippets which you considered facts, and hence you arrived at it being the stupidest thing?

Yes,, I'm sure you believe that Galliani and Silvio has some super secret ulterior motive for the greater good of the club .

But sometimes things are just THAT simple. Just like this case. Sometimes, 2 old farts who have no place in modern day football do actually make deals because they're in a hurry to grab the money and remove a huge wage off their shoulders. And in this case it was just that simple and easy to tell what happpened

Ultimately all the information we get is from the media, but at the end of the day things do add up. And this is in fact that timeline of events that happened during the summer

Reports from France were for a 50m bid and I don't think I ever saw that questioned by either club. All we know is that Milan rejected it and then later sold them both for that kind of money.

FT Chievo 1-2 Juventus.

If Matri keeps up this form, they'll win the league. The only issue they have as a team in my opinion is not taking their chances. That's 4 in his last 4 now and today he was partnered with Giovinco who's been shocking. Vucinic-Matri when playing well, they'll win too many games to be caught.

Inter and Lazio already one goal down. Let's hope Siena and Genoa can keep it up.

Lazio now down by 2.

Inter however has equalized.

Siena with another!!

2-1

Are we seeing the usual 2nd half of the season slump for Lazio or are these just a few bumps on the way? I hope it is the former

As I said, this is a different Lazio. But it still could be (I think the Coppa match is taking due).

Inter are so sh!t defensively. This 3-man defense system clearly doesn't work for them.

Mauri equalizes for Lazio.

Even my grandma can sprint faster than Ruben Olivera.

Siena 3-1 Inter
Genoa 3-2 Lazio

Awesome! If we win tonight we'll be only 3 points from third place. It's a golden opportunity that we cannot let go to waste.

+1 This is a MUST Win!!!


...I'd just like to point out how well we've been doing of recent (as seen below). Sure the displays are not spectacular just yet, but we're beginning to look like a team, and the results are finally coming in - Most Important!

Seems like another great weekend for us. hopefully Udinese (definitely one of our bogey teams) don't rain on our parade.

I know right...

fixed

Yeah, great results. Football gods are smiling upon us.

Udinese is always tricky though.

So you dont have facts, you have assumptions based on what the mainstream media tells you.

Like I said, believe what you want to

Just pulling your leg a little