In Paloschi we trust.

This is some good news that shows Tommaso Ghirardi is serious about getting the Gialloblu back up to Serie A. Luigi “Gigi” Cagni has been named the boss for next season. You may recognize Cagni from his recent stint at Empoli, where he led the Tuscan side to the UEFA Cup and then was unjustly fired last season before being brought back too late and failed to save them from the drop. This is a really good move from the Lord of Prosciutto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Cagni

It was a sad day yesterday. After 18 years of Serie A, a club that came out of nowhere and became a European power during the ’90s, a club that bred so many young stars into future champions, a club that gave so much joy to a small city, that same club was sent down to the inferno of Serie B yesterday.

Realistically, I saw this coming months ago. The squad, although having a better roster than most of the teams they were fighting with, did not seem motivated at all. An inexperienced manager was at the helm, and the squad lacked motivation and fight, something the other clubs that saved themselves had. (perfect examples- Cagliari, Reggina). I knew Parma would not beat Inter. It was too tough of a task.

You could even say everyone saw this coming when the Tanzi family was found to be a corrupt. It’s even a miracle Parma stayed in Serie A for as long as they did without a true owner, and Tommaso Ghirardi finally stepped in to guide the club. Unfortunately for Ghirardi, he will be remembered as the Parma president that brought Parma to Serie B, but this is the best chance for Ghirardi to redeem himself. Now he has to show that he’s a competent football president by building a good project this summer and gaining promotion to Serie A right away. Parma should be the best team in Serie B next season. Then once he gets back to Serie A (hopefully that’s 2009-2010), the club can focus on becoming a good Serie A side again.

The only problem I see is that some important players will probably leave. I doubt Luca Cigarini stays, and I’m still on the fence about Daniele Dessena. Igor Budan is definitely gone, and most probably Lucarelli will jump ship too. In fact, most of the attack will probably leave, I’m not too sure that Bernardo Corradi (although he’s on loan anyway) and Andrea Gasbarroni will want to play in Serie B. This is where the management has to work well. If these players are going to be sold, sell them quickly, don’t wait until August 31st to sell them and then have no time to find good replacements. Sell the players, and use the cash to buy good players that will make the difference in Serie B. But we’ll have to see. Ghirardi is promising a strong Parma next season, and let’s hope he’s right.

Because Serie A without Parma is very strange, they need to be back.

AVANTI CROCIATI!

Just as things couldn’t get any worse, they did. More after the jump.

HIGHLIGHTS

As you can see, Parma lost a crucial game to Reggina 2-1, and now we have at least one foot in Serie B. Cigarini put us ahead with a penalty, then Paci decided to commit a stupid unnecessary foul on Costa while he was already carrying a yellow, and he was sent off. Then a shot from outside from Cirillo took a wild bounce and surprised Bucci, who parried it but Cozza was there to finish. Cozza then put the Amaranto ahead with another goal, taking a deflection before soaring into the net.

Parma now need a miracle to escape the drop. It would be worse, we could be Livorno (sorry Marco), but we are in a bad position. We are second to bottom on 31 points, and play Genoa at home next, a match where we absolutely have to win, seeing as we face Fiorentina and Inter after that. There was even talk that Ghirardi was thinking of firing the Coop and bringing back Baldy Di Carlo back for the remaining games, but the Lord of Prosciutto refuted those rumors today, saying Cuper is staying until the end of the season.

The squad just lacks discipline, something that Cuper was supposed to bring but we haven’t seen it yet, and motivation. Seeing the Reggina players on Sunday fight for every ball and put in maximum effort made me wonder why the Gialloblu’ players were not playing like that. Reggina were playing like they actually wanted to stay in Serie A. We did not.

Relegation would be a disaster, seeing as our roster is much better than most teams in the bottom half of the table, and Serie B is a place where we haven’t been since 1990. It would be a true tragedy. Let’s hope our players start to wake up, because the Tardini will be full on Sunday and the Gialloblu’ have to get back on track.

AVANTI CROCIATI!

Today’s loss to Napoli was a bad one. More after the jump.

HIGHLIGHTS:

This may be one of the games that decides a season. This was a bad loss. It was a sloppy game, and none of the players played well except for Luca Bucci. The whole Gialloblu’ performance was a mess. Parma went ahead after Fabiano Santacroce football tackled Cristiano Lucarelli in the box. Igor Budan stepped up and put us in front. Shortly after that, Daniele Mannini hit the crossbar, and with the rebound coming back to him McDonald Mariga tackled him from behind and the referee pointed to the spot and took out his red card, sending off Mariga. Parma were left with 10 men and Napoli leveled. From there it was all downhill. The game became a circus. Lavezzi dribbled past Falcone, and Falcone continued to grab his shirt. Gasbarroni ran behind Lavezzi and attempted to kick him in the back, which the referee did not see. Lavezzi went down and Falcone was sent off. A few moments later, Gasbarroni came in hard on a Napoli player and kicked his leg blatantly. He was sent off and Napoli coach Reja was sent off for arguing. This may be the end of Gasbarroni’s season, especially if video replay catches the first incident, he may be out for some time. After that Napoli went ahead and we lost yet again.

This is not looking good at all. With 4 games left, we have the next two games against Reggina and Genoa. Reggina always plays well at home, and this may be the last chance for both sides to get some valuable points. After that we play a Genoa side who is basically just playing for a good mid-table finish. Then we have games vs. Fiorentina and Inter which I don’t even want to talk about yet.

Cuper has to do something, because with the current situation Parma will go to Serie B for the first time in 18 years. That would be a tragic situation and we hope it doesn’t come down to that, but I’m not very optimistic at the moment. Hopefully the Gialloblu’ improve and gain 6 points in these next two matches, because with the way things are looking, 36 or 37 points may be enough for safety this season.

AVANTI CROCIATI!

Parma lost to Juventus 3-0, but it was a game that the Gialloblu’ were not really expecting much anyway.

The Coop decided that this game was a good time to play some subs, and give the starters a rest. Realistically Parma were never going to upset Juve in this game, the Bianconeri are focused on grabbing 3rd place and Ranieri knows our side well. The Coop put out this line-up:

Bucci; Zenoni, Falcone, Couto, Antonelli; Dessena, Mariga, Morrone, Castellini; Reginaldo; Corradi

Not exactly our first-choice XI.

The game was all Juve, Trezeguet scored after a corner kick mixup and everyone thought he was offside. The second came from Palladino who beat Zenoni on the wing and beamed one past Bucci. Couto punched Chiellini in the face, but the referee didn’t see it, which means video replay could suspend him for a couple of games. In addition he was sent off, so this could be the end of the season for Couto. The third goal was an own goal by Morrone. Tiago passed it and Morrone finished nicely from outside the box with his head.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The Bottom line is that the next 3 games will decide if the Gialloblu’ are staying in Serie A or not.

On Sunday we welcome Napoli to the Tardini, and then next Sunday we travel to Reggio Calabria to take on Reggina, which is never easy. The week after we have Genoa at home. Cuper knows that we have to make as many points as possible in these next 3 games because our last two games are very difficult, away to Fiorentina and then home to Inter on the last day of the season. The usual goal for teams fighting for salvation is 40 points, that’s usually the magic number. We’re on 31 points, so 3 consecutive wins would probably save us from the inferno of Serie B. Even 2 wins and a draw wouldn’t be bad. The players have to really fight hard to stay in Serie A.

AVANTI CROCIATI!

Parma drew with Empoli 1-1 at the Stadio Carlo Castellani in the basement brawl on Sunday.
Highlights:

We took the lead after Budan backheeled it to Gasbarroni, who crossed it for Lucarelli and the man from Livorno headed it in. After that we almost made it 2-0, Cigarini crossed it in and Lucarelli did a scissor kick but it hit the post. Empoli came back with a great goal from “The Atomic Ant” Sebastian Giovinco, who weaved through two defenders and then drilled it past a helpless Bucci. After that both teams were afraid to lose and each went home with a point.

We now go to Torino to take on Juventus in the make up fixture tomorrow. The Coop said that he doesn’t want the squad getting tired, so tomorrow we will see lots of players resting and lots of players who normally sit on the bench getting some playing time.

The predicted formation is:

Bucci; Zenoni, Couto, Rossi, Antonelli; Dessena, Parravicini, Mariga; Reginaldo, Morfeo, Corradi

It’s a tough encounter but if we pull off a shock win we would jump over two teams and move out of the relegation zone into 14th place. Even a tie wouldn’t be that bad.

The game will be on live on Raitalia (Rai International changed their name) and Fox Soccer Channel.

The most famous Juve-Parma is when Crespo scored a hat-trick in the 98/99 season and we won 4-2:

AVANTI CROCIATI

Some quick Parma news and notes:

-Andrea Pisanu’s season is over. He had to have a knee operation and will be back next season. Pisanu was one of our most consistent performers this season and will be an essential part of the squad for next season.

-Lazio want Luca Cigarini (pictured to your left). Lazio president Claudio Lotito probably saw him play vs. Lazio and said to himself – “This kid’s good, I must have him!” Too bad he doesn’t know he’s 75% a Juve player next season. Supposedly Lazio would offer us some loans:

Fernando Muslera- yeah right, why don’t we just play with nobody in net next season.

Aleksandar Kolarov- yes please, this kid is the Serbian Roberto Carlos. His left foot is a cannon.

Riccardo Bonetto- no thanks. stop trying to give us your Serie B caliber players. Better off staying at Bologna.

Mourad Meghni- One of the many players dubbed as the “Next Zidane”. Unfortunately he never lived up to his billing, and I don’t think he ever will.

Simone Del Nero- A very technical player, wouldn’t be a bad option. Problem is he’s always injured.

-However Cigarini then said that he would love to stay, because the most important thing for a young player is to get playing time, and big club would not guarantee that.

-We just started a new soccer school in China, in Shanghai to be exact, and 1982 World Cup winner and now TV analyst Beppe Dossena is looking over the project. Chinese youth players from 7-19 years of age will be in the school and obviously the most promising players will make the trip to the peninsula. Also something tells me Ghirardi did this for the Chinese food.

Next game is a relegation battle vs. Empoli. I’ll get a preview up within a day or two.