Parma Lay Down the Law (Three Cheers for Parma!)

Last night, Parma’s Domenico Morfeo was summarily sent home from the team’s base in Spain, depsite having been in country for such a short time he’d barely had time for some tapas. At the time, no one knew what happened, only that the departure was discipline-related, and that the midfielder had been hit with an open-ended suspension, missing at the least his club’s two games in Spain.

Light was shed on the departure by a report in today’s La Gazzetta, which indicated the discipline problem was a “blazing row” (god bless English expressions) with former player and current coaching staff member Alessandro Melli. Arguments happen all the time, obviously, but the problem was that this one happened to take place in the team hotel, in front of the entire Parma squad.

Now, there are probably a lot of teams for whom this wouldn’t be a big deal — the issue would be sorted, there’d be some sort of quiet, stern talking-to, and it would be over. For a team as incredibly young as Parma (apart from Morfeo and the ageless Fernando Couto, I’m not sure anyone on the roster is older than 14), though, this sort of thing is really magnified, and the way it’s handled can set a tone for the entire season. Plus, Morfeo isn’t exactly a first-time offender: He’s got a history of disruptive, aggressive behavior, a fact which made it even more crucial that the hammer come down hard him, biggest name in the team or not.

And, shock of shocks, it DID! Wow. The club insist Morfeo won’t be sold (despite those phone calls from Turin), but the jury is still out if he’ll be invited to rejoin the team upon its return from Spain or not. Go Parma for having the balls to do the right thing, even if it is only preseason. Nice to know somebody knows what they’re doing around here.

Category: Rumors & News, Serie A

Tags: Morfeo, Parma, Rumors -amp; News, Serie A

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