they were the same under hoddle you know.

Apparently, the Siena manager Mario Berretta - who lives in Milan - was threatened after yesterday's game by Inter fans and his family didn't return to their house because of fears for their safety.

Anyway, for some reason I can't take the 'non c'e piu, lo scudetto di moratti non c'e piu' ditty out of my mind.

I hadn't heard that, but as disappointing as it is, it isn't a surprise. The booing and whistles at the end of the game were extremely loud, the Inter team coach needed an escort to get through a mob of about 200 unhappy tifosi 90 minutes later, and an Interista in Pisa has been charged with creating a public danger for throwing his (28 inch) television out his (second floor) window after Materazzi missed the penalty.

It is going to be an interesting week.

And it starts early . . .

Parma have just fired Cuper. Against Inter, they will be led by the manager of their Primavera side.

oh no! oh no no nononononno

feck

*begins to pray*

what are they thinking?

I'm sure the conspiracy theorists are already going full tilt.

Ghirardi is a closet Interista who sleeps in Nerazzuro pyjamas (XXXL).

Ghirardi will soon be signing a very large contract with the Moratti family oil company.

Ghirardi is superstitious even by Italian standards and could not see how Cuper could possibly win a "5 Maggio" type match.

You know the drill.

Do you think that they will let your lot go to Catania?

And today's evil Interista conspiracy is . . .

that the answer to my last question is no; Spangles' lot won't be going to Catania.

The Osservatorio has barred Roma fans from travelling to Catania, while allowing Interisti to go to Parma. The president of the League (that well known pillar of rectitude Antonio Matarese) has objected to the decision as being unfair, but the authorities from the Interior Ministry (who followed strong recommendations from the local police) are sticking to their decision for now.

god damn it. if they're going to ban us they might at least ban Inter too. grr.

SP, but that would deprive you of seeing the look on their faces when the lose the title.

Believe.

The Osservatorio has called another meeting for this morning to review its decision.

I have a feeling that my "for now" above is going to prove prescient, though given the police opposition in Catania it may well be that the decision they take is to bar the Interisti from going to Parma.

That Cuper decision is just incredible. It beggars belief.

The Parma chairman spent all day yesterday defending himself for accusations that it was made to benefit Inter.

Well, Manzo is a former AC Milan player so there is still hope.

The great story is that last Saturday, Manzo played against Inter at Primavera level. Parma lost 4-2 but three of Inter's goals came from the penalty spot. Imagine what would happen if that were to be repeated next Sunday!

To shift topics, I thought your blog post on Chiellini was quite interesting. If the Juventini are suspicious of his Viola roots; the Fiorentini consider him nothing short of the worst sort of traitor. I wonder if he would be better off going to England, where his "robust style" would look "cultured" by comparison to that many of his colleagues.

He and "his people" are obviously trying to make him more appealing through various tv appearances, charity gigs and the like, but he just ain't never going to be Paolo Maldini or Gaetano Scirea.

Cheers Ursus.

I quite like Chiellini. Not too much frills but he does his job extremely well and can play in a number of positions. It has always astonished me that he isn't more appreciated and I very much think that if he had any alternatives, Donadoni would much rather leave him out.

What's probably more astonishing, though, is Legrotaglie's revival thanks, it would seem, to his decision to re-embrace religion and to remain chaste.

Notwithstanding his treachery, Donadoni should definitely take Chiellini, especially as no one (especially himself) knows what Materazzi might do or which Cannavaro will show up.

I feel the slightest bit vindicated by Legrottaglie's renaissance, because I thought he was going to be good when he was at Chievo. Though I think that his renaissance likely has more to do with Ranieri than with not having sex for two years (a claim that I take with several mines full of salt).

The "New" Juve's ability to rescue players' careers is quite impressive. In addition to Legrottaglie, notable examples include Cristiano Zanetti and Momo Sissoko (AdP is a more complex case). When we saw them take Inter apart at the Meazza, it was striking just how much better a large number of guys were playing than they had the last time we saw them (mostly with different clubs). Just why this is, I'm not sure (though it appears that Ranieri has a secret formula when it comes to Sissoko), but perhaps they should send Trezeguet somewhere on loan for six months and then bring him back.

So, the Osservatorio confirmed the ban on the Romanisti travelling and punted the decision on what to do with Inter to the prefect in Parma, who is supposed to decide today whether or not he will allow sales of tickets to people outside of Parma (this being Italy, tickets for a match being played in three days have yet to go on sale anywhere).

In other news, Ibrahimovic has gotten through two days of full training for the first time in six weeks and is currently expected to be in the squad for Parma.

There's also been a split in the Roma camp when it comes to superstitions: Totti has been saying for weeks that Inter will win the title and he's been joined by Spaletti, who has put the chances of a Roma win at 1%. This has clearly been working for them, and won knowing nods from reverse jinx fans all over the country. Then yesterday, Cicinho "guaranteed" a title for the Giallorossi (at least in the Milanese papers). He must not have gotten the memo.