Leave The Drama To The Italians

By: chris | March 11th, 2008

The game itself was fairly straightforward. Inter had a big mountain to climb heading in, Nicolas Burdisso – who even Inter’s most ardent nut-huggers will admit has the finesse of a chainsaw – knocked Inter off the face of the cliff down the mountain in the 50th minute (and almost looked like he was about to go into Cassanata mode and fire his shirt at the ref – obviously in a tribute to Antonio himself, who was in the stands). Then the behemoth that is Fernando Torres scored a spectacular goal to pretty much end the procedures. (The same FT that Moratti wanted so desperately – imagine that stung a little bit.)

Then came the drama…..

Luish Figo refused to come off the bench as a substitute because his mani-pedi hadn’t set in yet – showing a real lack of professionalism for a guy in his mid-30’s (Barca fans are shocked, I’m sure). The fans were booing, unhappy with another first kayo rounds exit. Final whistle came, and then the pseudo-shocker:

Bob Mancini kinda sorta resigned, effective at the end of the season, in the “post-game presser” (if that’s what you want to call it). Saying he’d decided so before the game. Cue pandemonium. Or elation. Either one.

So all that crisis talk? Feel free to start back up again. Dissension in the ranks, a lame duck coach, beaucoup injuries, a stretch which has seen them win one of their last six and lose three of those, with a heap of criticism coming from every angle to boot. Still 11 games, plus 2 Coppa Italia ties, left for a club which has a whole lot of peripheral stuff to worry about at the moment, even if it’s no longer in European competition. And of course the impending, inevitably nauseating (see: Bayern pre-Klinsmann), hourly search for the new Inter coach in the presses.

There will be more time for speculation on the future head gaffer in the black and blue side of the city (wait your turn, Jose), but for now, there is probably one big question: Did Mancini know he was the lame duck coach even before decided to resign……

* – And then there was one.

Some Related Serie A Posts:

Category: Champions League, Inter

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CMP

And now he's staying...
Gregorio [juve]

*took not stop wtf was i saying lol
Gregorio [juve]

haha couldnt agree more about the epl. they all popular yes most suporters. but they do shit. english made soccer.. we as italians perfected it. its like how chinese made pasta.. we perfect it hehe=] but anycase i think mancini is a sour loser. they have all there games (most) handed to them. inter cant compete in the champions league like juve and milan do. i seriously think that inter need a coach who can bring in italians make inter "italian" again and make inter do good in champions league. personally i think benitez should go2 inter but i hate inter anyway so for all i care go2 serie b=]

FFOOORRRZzzZa JUVee=p f*** u guys u stop a scudetto from us u desurve not 2 be completive in champions league where every1 sees you
Marco P.

Ditto Ezio.

I had a strong feeling yesterday's post-match reaction was only the result of a very severe disappointment. To take it one step further and actually resign from Inter (albeit at the end of the season) felt very ridiculous to everyone, including the players.
Ezio

Now Mancio recanted, said he will stay until the end of his contract in 2011. Just like the little kid playing in the park, somebody take his candy and he starts stomping his feet crying that he doesn't wanna play anymore... Then daddy Moratti takes him on his lap, spanks him for coming out like that and destabilizing the whole team when they are on the verge of a crisis, and tells him that he will in fact leave soon, but when and only because the president tells him to do so, and to shut up and keep playing because he's getting paid way to much to just sit and pout. Pure class...
Frank

VERY TRUE . . . forgot they needed an ITALIAN to help them out. . . add that to the list SAF...YOU AND the EPL is a JOKE!!
Lisa

Frank, getting aggravated by anything SAF says is a waste of time and energy. Besides, the English have to have something to make them feel better about not being in the Euros and needing an Italian to come straighten their national team out...
Frank

Seems as though the EPL has there heads in their . . . you know:

"The Premier League is the best in Europe, according to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. England has become the first country to have four teams in the Champions League quarter-finals after Liverpool defeated Inter Milan in Italy yesterday to join United, Arsenal and Chelsea in Friday's draw."

Best in Europe. . . ya ok sir ALEX WHo has the world cup?, WHo has the Club World Cup? Who holds the current CL title (Milan)? Who has QUALIFIED for the Euros? Who has the current Golden Ball Winner? WHo has the European golden boot winner (My very own Totti)? And which league has at least 7 teams* that can blow the doors off any team any day? FUck off EPL . . . keep dreaming!!

* Seven Teams are: Roma, Inter, Milan, Juve, Fior., Napoli, and Udinese. . . mabye even Palermo . . .depends on consistency.
Ezio

I seriously don't think that Inter's victories in the past two years are much of R. Mancini's merit. They only won the first title because it was handed to them (when if Moratti would have been "classy" like someone describes him, he should have not accepted it) and the second one because Juve and Milan where out of the picture and Roma didn't fully believe it could compete with them (and probably they actually couldn't, but they could have at least tried, while evryone had already crowned Inter as champions by october). The 2 Coppa Italia they won outright, but to be honest that's not a great accomplishment for a team of that caliber and with that kind of roster and budget. Also, until they make Coppa Italia count for the 4th spot in CL as they should, it's always going to get snubbed by the big teams (look at Milan and Juve this year).
Mancini should have never been allowed to become Fiorentina's coach in the first place back when, since he didn't have his coach license, but as you know rules in Italy are made to be bent for people that are powerful or popular enough. Only the stupid or hopelessly romantic follows rules, apparently...
That said, it's never been easy to coach Inter, they have driven many good coaches to the end of their rope after Trap in the late 80's / early 90's: since 1991 they have had 18 different coaches; anyone remember when Lippi basically told the players to go f*** themselves out of desperation? And there's a coach with balls of steel that won a lot with Juve and a World Cup with Italy...
I hope for Inter and its supporters that they can finally get a coach who can actually form and manage a group, even though as a Roma fan I would miss the hopeless team Inter had been, always a few pennies short of a dollar...
Gabriella (ASR)

http://www.channel4.com/sport/...

good blog on Ch4
Dean

I was at the game last night, and to be honest-bugger! The opportunities were there, but we blew it. No thanks to Zlatan (although I love him), one more year!
Sempre Inter
roswitha

Two years, let's face it, was a long enough time for them to go without collapsing.
Julie

Mancini resigning is a shocker. What's that all about? Nerrazurri .... what do you think??
Fetyani

OWEH OWEH, CHI NON SALTA NERAZURRI!!!

che sara, che sara, che sara.
che sara di questa inter chi lo sa
Frank

And then there was ONE alright. . .

Forza ROMA
Nolan

Figo, not show class? That's a new one!