Everything Looks Awfully Good in Palermo Today

By: Martha | December 11th, 2006

Dancing queens. It’s amazing what a convincing win can do for a team, huh? Just a few days ago, everyone who loves Palmero (including yours truly) was crying in their beer, talking about a crisis, and reminiscing about the dream run that had come to an end. And now? Hell, a victory over Roma next week and an Inter slip or two, and we’re right there for the title! Ahem.

But it’s not just the fans who are fired up — those at the club are also having a hard time hiding their excitement. Fabio Simplicio, for example, in addition to rapidly become one of my favorite players on the team (probably not the reason he’s feeling so good, I realize), has announced that it’s time for Palermo to join Inter, Roma (and, usually, Juve and Milan) as a truly big club. Now, since being a “big club” has as much to do with money and squad size as it does with success on the pitch it’s something of pipe dream at this point, but still — the fact that Palermo are in a position to even have that dream is awfully exciting.

The higher-ups, meanwhile, seem to be drinking the Kool-Aid even more eagerly than the players, if such a thing is possible. Take, for example, Francesco Guidolin’s sugar-induced comparison of Amuari and Didier Drogba: The coach, while praising the latter as the best striker in Europe at the moment, told the press that Amauri reminds him very much of the Ivorian, a statement lifts the Palermo player above, well, a whole lot of good players. I mean, Amauri is having a great season, but let’s not be too hasty here, alright? Both players are incredibly strong on the ball, both have unnecessarily long hair, and both are scoring goals with impressive regularity at the moment. But beyond that? Amauri’s got a ways to go, I think, before he’s as universally admired and feared as Drogba. I’m not saying Drogba-ness isn’t a good goal, but as Bill Parcells would say, let’s hold off on the anointing oil for a little while.

That said, though? The dream/fantasy is totally back. Woo hoo!

[image from ilpalermocalcio.it]