Ciro Ferrara
“Juventus fans began with grudging admiration for Ciro Ferrara and now it seems the rest of Italian football may be doing much the same as he rebuilds not only his own coaching career but the reputation of Italy’s Under-21 team. Fans of the Turin club were forced to look on as the defender won two Scudetti and the UEFA Cup as part of wonderful Diego Maradona era Napoli and many held both his style of play and his will to win in the highest regard. When Juventus signed him in 1994 it just felt right and the fact he is the only man Lippi brought with him from Naples speaks volumes.” In Bed With Maradoma

“Sinisa Mihajlovic’s departure from Fiorentina on Monday came as no surprise, after a poor run of form at the beginning of the season and constant calls for the manager to leave from the club’s supporters. Replacing Cesare Prandelli was an almost impossible task. Prandelli had taken charge of Fiorentina in the summer of 2005, when it had narrowly avoided relegation to Serie B on the convoluted basis of its head-to-head record against two other sides. By the time Prandelli left, Fiorentina had enjoyed two consecutive Champions League campaigns — and it would have been more were it not for the penalties of the calciopoli scandal.” ESPN

“Life could have been so different for Francesco Totti. ‘If I hadn’t been a footballer, I would have liked to have become a petrol pump assistant,’ he said. ‘When I was little, it was wonderful to smell the petrol fumes and see those guys handle so much money.’ Admittedly one does sometimes have to wonder whether those fumes ever went to the young Totti’s head.” FourFourTwo

“There’s not much open of a Sunday morning in Carpineto Romano. It’s a tiny little hill town about 50 miles from Rome, which sits high above the former malaria-infested marshland that killed Anita Garibaldi and where Mussolini constructed the nightmarish town of Latina, a Fascist township so fucked up it even has a local office for the separatist Lega Nord. Even in my neighbourhood the shutters go down, and stay down, everywhere on Saturday nights, bar supermarkets and the odd breakfast bar, so it was a relief to be able to buy a pack of fags and a couple of bottles of water, especially after the day I’d had. As I walked back down towards the carabinieri barracks the local football team eyed me up from across the street, and as I got to the locked gate Valerio was there, hands outstretched through the bars and waiting for his cigarettes.” In Bed With Maradona

“In kicking off its season with a single match on a Friday evening, as if the start could not come soon enough after the first round of fixtures were postponed because of a players’ strike, the Lega Serie A displayed the kind of awkward creativity borne out of a crisis that seems to run in the Italian blood.” ESPN

Milan 2-2 Lazio: danger down the flanks
“The opening Serie A game of the season was excellent, with all four goals coming in a frantic first 35 minutes. Max Allegri continued with his 4-3-1-2 shape, with Antonio Cassano playing just off Zlatan Ibrahimovic upfront. Edy Reja gave debuts to two strikers, Miroslav Klose and Djibril Cisse, though the Frenchman played in a wide-left role. It was a similar, lopsided 4-2-3-1 to the system Lazio used last season. The main tactical interest here was how obviously vulnerable both teams were in certain positions – and, as it happened, they were both vulnerable in exactly the same ways, despite the difference in formations.” Zonal Marking

“In the last couple of years a number of Italian footballing personalities have moved to Russia to ply their trade. Luciano Spalletti, the current Zenit St Petersburg manager, and Salvatore Bocchetti of Rubin Kazan are enjoying successful stints, while Domenico Criscito looks set to emulate them under the tutelage of Spalletti at Zenit. But the story of one Italian player, whose promising talent disappeared off the radar during a horrific spell in Russia, is in stark contrast to the positive experiences of his compatriots.” In Bed With Maradona

Saint Sébastien, Pietro Vannucci
“And so it has come to pass. The first week of Serie A 2011/2012 will not be played this weekend. An emergency meeting between the footballers and their trade union (AIC) leader Damiano Tommasi on one side and on the other, the presidents of the clubs, represented by Lega Serie A president Massimo Beretta and Cagliari’s Massimo Cellino (the League’s other representative Lazio’s Claudio Lotito couldn’t participate because of a ban until September over insulting the Italian Olympic Committee) was held on Wednesday, convened by Giancarlo Abete, president of the Italian football federation (FIGC).” In Bed With Maradona

Players’ strike delays the start of Serie A
“It has been in the air for some time but now it’s official. Italy’s Serie A will not start until the weekend of September 10 at the earliest as a result of an impasse involving the League, the clubs and the players’ union. (The other divisions will not be affected as yet, and Serie B has already started.) The issue revolves around a collective contract without which, according to the union, the season cannot start. There are two sticking points. One involves the recent austerity measures proposed by the government. They include additional taxes to be imposed on those earning more than €90,000 and €150,000 (£80k and £133k). The clubs say that the players should pay the tax.” WSC

“The mercurial Jeremy Menez is a player blessed with undisputed ability. With a blend of dexterity and pace, Menez has caused consternation among Serie A defences for three seasons. Deployed in either a wide berth or forward position, Menez has become a linchpin in the famed ‘Giallorosso’ jersey of AS Roma. Technical attributes aside, Menez has recently allowed peripheral club turmoil to blight his mood and dull his threat. A clash of characters with Roma’s temporary manager, Vincenzo Montella, saw Jeremy’s mood and form wane, while Roma’s hardcore tifosi duly became increasingly disenchanted with their man. And as last season expired, a prevailing disquiet suggested the Frenchman’s position was borderline untenable.” FFM

“To some, the words Novara Calcio are about as unknown as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. After all, it was only two seasons ago that the Piedmontese side was floating around in Italy’s vast third division, now known as the Lega Pro. Most the teams in Lega Pro play on pitches comparable with fields found right outside the highway – complete with live & active growing vegetation. It is here that the curious case of Novara Calcio commenced, right down to their unusual synthetic pitch that could very well be renamed ‘Il Cimiterio’ (The metaphorical graveyard of a footballers career) for its awkward surfaces that have caused plenty of twisted ankles and exploded ligaments from players not used to the artificial ground.” In Bed With Maradona

“October 28th 1973; quite the memorable date in Spanish football history. A young, straggly but immensely gifted Dutchman by the name of Johan Cruyff made his league debut for FC Barcelona, and the effect he’d have on football from that point on, not just in Spain, is one that still shapes the game today. This story, however, is not about the number 14 – it’s about the number 35. Barça’s opponents that day were Granada CF, a team who have spent 35 years away from the Spanish top flight…until now.” In Bed With Maradona

“It shouldn’t have been this way. In May 2010 Catania winger Jorge Martinez was effervescent as he helped the Sicilian side to a remarkable season in which they finished comfortably in 12th place. His impressive displays also ensured his place in Uruguay’s provisional 26-man squad ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.” In Bed With Maradona

“Last month we stumbled across a piece of footballing gold. A trailer to a forthcoming film being made by Italian director Pierr Nosari on the beautiful Calcio Tavolo. Stuart Fuller tracked down Pierr and his colleague Enrico to tell us the inspiration behind the project.” In Bed With Maradona

“FistedAway can today exclusively bring you details of a memo discarded by Swindon Town’s PR department, which was exclusively found after exclusively rummaging through the (exclusive) bins outside the County Ground.” Fisted Away

“How does the World Cup’s best player find himself persona non grata at his club? ITV Football’s James Appell examines the curious case of Diego Forlan. Do fans ask too much of their club’s players? Most supporters, fickle though they can be, are usually satisfied with a bit of elbow grease – winning matches or putting in quality performances are often not even deemed necessary.” itv

“Paul Visca on how the thorny issue of television rights has rumbled on in the background of what’s been an outstanding season in Serie A.” In Bed With Maradona

“2011 marks the fifth anniversary of the Calciopoli scandal and the subsequent relegation of Italian football’s grandest club, Juventus. Many times the players who left la vecchia Signora in the aftermath of that blackest of marks on the sports great history have been spoken of; called traitors, mercenaries and cowards. But what of those who stayed, the heroes who have become a part of club legend, names that will be forever loved by the Bianconeri faithful?” In Bed With Mardona