SOCCER: WHAT’S HAPPENING IN FLORENCE?

First Naples, a short time ago Milan and now Florence. What’s going on in the soccer metropoli? Different cases, similar environmental situations. However, above all, it appears that the line of continuity between troubles that are surrounding noble soccer clubs is the great organizational chaos and the lack of serenity. Napoli, as said, served two years in the purgatory of division B. Moratti and his Inter are heading for their umpteenth disastrous season.
And now it’s the turn of Florence to relive nightmares which the past few seasons had cancelled. Tuscany woke up the day after defeat at the hands of Bari, bottom team in the division, to discover that there are in fact just six points separating them from the drop into division B. Also Inter the previous week had a close shave, risking home defeat against Udinese. Now it’s the turn of the Florentine club to swim against the tide and back to safety.
This situation arouses curiosity since, no more than four months ago, Fiorentina and Inter indeed figured among the seven title claimants. A club, we said; but perhaps in both club cases it is not known whether the term is exactly in line with that which really means club. The “Zingarelli” dictionary defines an association of people having certain shared goals. So far so good, given that the aim can be to hit on something significant in soccer competitions. What doesn’t add up, and which in Florence, has seen cracks appear in the Fiorentina organization, are the “certain” goals, i.e. allocated, set. This is precisely the focal point as regards Fiorentina and Inter.
Two chairmen refusing to delegate, who often make choices based on their mood and personal intuition, sidestepping their respective managers. Hence Moratti may buy players simply because they impress him on television and not because the manager has asked to buy them. Cecchi Gori wants to sack a manager because, in his opinion, he played the wrong line-up. One shouldn’t stray; an old Lombard saying goes “legnamè, fa ‘lto mestè” (i.e. carpenter, do your job). Taking risks in tactical decisions, complete technical-organizational switches for the sake of property is now on the increase in the footballing world. I pay so I decide is okay until arrogance makes one think they are versatile on all fronts. It’s not by chance that those currently winning have a staff of respected professionals who are concerned with the smallest details. In an era like this, instead we still find “tyrannical fathers” who are unable to limit their own surge of passion for their respective clubs, spilling over and straying into others’ territory.
Fiorentina finds itself thus, a week after Terim’s resignation, having to face an extremely delicate league position, for which it was certainly unprepared. And now this is precisely the greatest danger; if one is used to fighting against difficulties, then experience teaches alternative escape routes. However, panic can set in when a cruising ship starts to fill with water. Cecchi Gori has seen seven more people follow the outgoing manager en masse, including a historical figure of Fiorentina, i.e. Giancarlo Antognoni. For now the new arrivals are limited to Mario Sconcerti, a journalist, as general manager and Ottavio Bianchi, as General director. While waiting for a decision to be taken on Terim’s long-term successor (Chiarugi is the caretaker manager) it is to be hoped for the club that the replacements, considering experience and recent escapades, keep the ship afloat in troubled waters. However the impression is that, after having made things rather difficult by themselves, the Florentine management has made an enemy of both the supporters and a large part of the playing squad, many of which long for a change of air. It does not augur well for a ship that is heading for the rocks.