Allright !

So Livorno have now shrugged off that nasty addiction to the nil-nil draw. After 3 straight double goose eggs the Amaranto Liberation Army smashed 3 beautiful goals on saturday while in the process of owning Salernitana. Livorno played around all night and it got even easier when Sal went down to 10 men for 45 minutes. This means i actually have highlights to show. Tavano, Candreva and Ale Diamanti got on the sheet with some nice strikes. Now Livorno stand 3 points away from leaders Empoli in 6th place.

Ok so even though Livorno’s looking good , we’ve drawn 10 times in 16 days, 6 of those were 0-0 draws. Empoli, Torino doesn’t count, is the only team that beat us all year! Now we need to start winning on a consistent basis

so random thoughts and numbers :

1 : The defense is pretty much on point even if Grandoni and Galante aren’T really doing their part

2: Tomas Danilevicius makes Fausto Rossini look like Amauri. Danilevicius can’t find the back of the net if would add volume to his hair. Good thing is that Diamanti and Tavano have been picking up the slack. Hell even Fausto played his part when he was healthy.

3: Coach Acori knows what he’s doing ! The Defense is tight and the progress of youngsters Candreva, Rosi, Volpe and even

4: Alfonso De Lucia does a pretty impressive Marco Amelia impersonation. Altough i had serious doubts about him at the start of the stagione , I have to admit he’s been solid infront of nets thus far

5: Goals Against : 11 Goals For : 22

6: Teams like Chievo and Bologna would kill to have our midfield.

7: Tavano keeps on playing great 1 every 3 games. We can live with that because of Alessandro Diamanti

8 : Speaking of the homeless man’s Antonio Cassano, Beppe Marotta wants to bring him to Pesto town and join Samp !

IL TABELLINO

Marcatori: 21’ Tavano, 68’Candreva, 91′ Diamanti

Livorno (4-3-2-1): De Lucia 6,5; Rosi 7, Perticone 6, Miglionico 6, Bonetto 6,5 (33’ st Grandoni sv); Pulzetti 6, Loviso 5,5 (11’ st Candreva 6,5), Bergvold 7 (41’ st A.Filippini sv); Diamanti 6,5, Tavano 7; Danilevicius 5. A disp: Mazzoni, Rizza, Volpe, Laurito. All. Acori 6,5.

Espulso: Peccarisi (S) al 46’ pt per doppia ammonizione

Livorno beat Vicenza away for the first time since the 1950’s! This exactly the kind of game Livorno needed to win. Aleandro Rosi is out for 15 days, Grandoni was out, Massimo Loviso couldn’t manage to make it and the surprisingly excellent Fausto Rossini had to leave after only 20 minutes. Livorno grinded out 3 deserved points to reach 22 points, 2 away from leaders Sassuolo ! Livorno suffered all day long with Vicenza camping out in their half all game long. The occasional lethal counter attack was deployed but Livorno had to stay focused. Vicenza fans will argue that they deserved the win, not to mention at least a point but Livorno did what every go team needs to do, grind out an ugly 3 points.

Tavano managed to screw up 2 easy chances and Alfonso De Lucia had to save 2 balls on the line but Ale Diamanti broke the deadlock and the Labronici held on for the win. Ale Diamanti’s long-range goal came right after he hit the crossbar from about 20 yards out. Acori’s 4-3-2-1 is still working perfectly and Livorno fans will be happy to see the surprisingly solid depth this team has. Candreva filled in perfectly for Loviso, Francesco Volpe is a great sub, Bonetto’s amazing, Perticone is solid and versatile, Alfonso De Lucia is almost making us forget about Marco Amelia and we don’t even need to wait after Tavano’s occasional brilliance.

Tabellino :

Livorno ( 4-3-2-1) De Lucia, Miglionico, Terranova, Perticone, Bonetto, Candreva ( dal 14′ s.t. Volpe ), Pulzetti, Bergvold, Tavano, Diamanti ( dal 37’s.t. Rizza ), Rossini ( dal 23′ p.t. Danilevicius). A disp Mazzoni, Paulinho, Filippini E., Diniz. All. Acori

Vicenza ( 4-3-2-1) Fortin, Zanchi, Di Cesare, Giani, Martinelli ( dal 38’s.t. Margiotta ), Bernardini, Bottone ( dal 1’s.t Morosini ), Botta, Capone ( dal 9’s.t. Foglio ), Sgrigna, Bjelanovic. A disp : Frison, Calori, Fatic, Serafini.
Ammoniti : Candreva, Pulzetti, Perticone, Danilevicius, Zanchi.
Marcatori : al 33’s.t. Diamanti

The Labronici were planning on fielding the young guns a lot and returning to Serie A in 2010, but this very positive play is giving us hope for a quicker return. Grandoni, Galante, Bergvold, Bonetto, Tavano,Pulzetti and Diamanti could all be an important part of at least one Serie A team right now !

Hell, Livorno’s project of reaching Serie A within 2 years needs to be reconsidered !

Fabio Galante’s so happy about this that he decided to comeback. He was in the stands on Saturday but he should b game fit in less then 2-3 weeks.

Livorno is back to Serie B after a dismal 2007/2008 season. The Vikash Dhorasoo + Diego Tristan experiment didn’t work. All hell broke lose and the high point of the season was drawing Inter and Roma. Nonetheless, the Amaranto Liberation Army still have what it takes to give us an exciting battle to Serie A promotion from this year. Livorno will fight alongside Brescia, Parma, Empoli, Albinoleffe, Mantova, hell maybe even Bari to be able to play with ht ebig boys next year. The year has started out great; Livorno have 5 points in 3 matches and Francesco Tavano seems to be having fun with his 4 goals. We’re even progressing in the Coppa Italia

Surprisingly Aldo Spinelli is still at the reigns of my beloved Livorno,GC Camolese is gone and Leonardo Acori is our new coach and he likes the Christmas tree , Cristiano Lucarelli’s playing Serie B ball but not on the Tuscan shores and Marco Amelia is suffering the rants of Maurizio Zamparini at this very moment.

To be honest, the summer has brought much promise;

Sure Marco Amelia, Dario Knezevic, Giovanni Pasquale, Fabio Galante have left even Diego Tristan moved to Cyprus but most importantly we retained Francesco Tavano, Nico Pulzetti , Alè Diamanti, Alè Grandoni and Martin Bergvold and the tiny twins.

The addition of young guns U-21 striker Antonio Candreva and Roma Bred and Champions League experienced Aleandro Rosi is a plus but the real addition is being able to count on Diamanti and Tavano up front and the decent Bergvold-Loviso-Pulzetti nucleus in midfield.

The hardest to keep seemed to be Pulzetti who wanted Serie A football and Lazio, Genoa and Palermo were all willing to pay around the 3 Million mark for his services. Atalanta offered 2.5 Mil for 50% and young U-21 goalie Consigli and Palermo went with 3.5 Million for 50% plus half of Ciaramitaro; but Nico’s staying put for now. Alè Diamanti had some decent offers but nothing serious really, so his left foot is staying in Tuscany. Diamanti signed a 4 year contract guaranteeing him 3 Million if Livorno remain in Serie B and 6 Mill if the make the jump, the same one as Nico Pulzetti’s

Let’s catch up to the Serie B season

Day 1 Avellino 3-1

Day 2 Mantova 1-1

Day 3 Piacenza 1-1

So 5 points from 3 games and we’re tied for 6th spot and Francesco Tavano stands at 4 goals already.

How about Pisa ? The Derbissimo is upon us and it’s time to add points to the table

Probabile formazione (4-3-2-1): De Lucia; Rosi, Grandoni, Miglionico, Bonetto; Pulzetti, A. Filippini, Loviso; Tavano, Diamanti; Danilevicius.

A disp.: Alfonso, Feussi, Trevisan, Piccinni, Buzzegoli, Radovanovic, Degano. All.: Ventura

Cool thing on Livorno’s website http://webtv.livornochannel.com/index.php ; Registration is free and you get all the highlights and juicy tidbits from your favorite team

At least Serie B gives us the derbissimo because that would never happen in Serie A… PISA MERDA !

Not all has been said about the season, but we pretty much all get the picture. Livorno were condemned to Serie B from the get go. From the ; Ciao Lucarelli and Morrone to the Hello Diego Tristan,Vikash Dhorasoo and Francesco Tavano. Unfortunately, Spinelli’s all around stubbornness and many offield antics (Promising to bring Lucarelli back, Wanting to weigh each player personally, Poutin and wanting to sell the club, his phone conversations with Luciano Moggi and his stupid penny pinching transfer window), Fernando Orsi ‘s awful start and end of the season mixed in with Livorno’s inability at scoring goals and you have yourself a recipe for Serie B. All I have to say is that La Nazionale needs to start loaning each and every potential goalkeeping star to Livorno. Just like Marco Amelia, your promised to see the youngster get peppered with shots week in and week out. (I’m so looking at you Gianluca Curci) Livorno need to end the; – Will Aldo leave – saga as soon as possible. Preferably by pressuring Aldo to sell the Club already!

I’ll give Aldo some credit for managing to get Livorno a decent amount of Media Exposure over the years, but the man has got to go. He’s clearly given up on his Livorno project (especially after reading those Luciano Moggi Phone call transcripts of his) This President managed to bring Livorno from Serie B to the UEFA Cup, but Livorno have now regressed back to their starting point. That’s just one of the reasons Aldo needs to go. I’ll give him the fact that he always manages to snatch up a good bargain or to unearth a Serie A worthy player from some buttfuck Paese: Bergvold, Pulzetti, Knezevic, M. Amelia, Palladino and Alè Diamanti. Unfortunately, It’s that time, changing of the guard time. His decision making capabilities have digressed throughout the years; His coaching choices (Firing,hiring,timing) were 80% awful and the fact that he never managed to organize the Youth Sides with enough flair to see 1 Primavera player make it to the Senior Squad. It’s time for some new blood, all around the organisation.

Tranfer Rumours:

Diego Tristan has moved to Cyprus, I’m told the hills are beautiful

Marco Amelia’s till drawing interest from Palermo, Athletico and the UK

Alè Diamanti, by far this year’s standout player, has been drawing some interest from all over the peninsula. Sampdoria,Genoa,Napoli,Lazio and Inter are all keen on the left footed Homeless man’s Antonio Cassano. I get the feeling Diamanti has no intention of going down to Serie B. The 25 year old player from Prato has declared today that ‘’ Napoli would be the realisation of a dream!’’

Ciao Alè ! T’was nice knowing you

Diamanti’s not the only Livorno player Napoli have their eye on ; Giovanni Pasquale, who almost went to Napoli during the Winter Window, has all but secured his place in Napoli. Reports suggest that Napoli will pay Livorno around 1.6-1.9 M Euro for the ex-Interista + a 1 year Loan of Erminio Rullo. Nico Pulzetti’s the other player flirting with the San Paolo public. Reports are saying the fling is mutual.

Giancarlo Camolese what do you think about this ?

Pulzetti e Pasquale sono giocatori da Napoli!

Alright, So how are things going for you ?

I just signed a contract with Rapid Bucharest !

What !? You’re replacing Walter Zenga as the Italian of service in Romania?

At 800,000 k a season plus another 300k if we make the Champions I’m moving to Romania !

Ciao Giancarlo !

Finally, Francesco Tavano is moving out. The Tavster sucked it hard all year despite his 10 goals. It seems like Fiorentina are ‘’extremely’’ keen on the striker and have seemingly included Arturo Lupoli as a bargaining chip. Livorno are thrilled by the idea but contrary to Fiorentina’s wishes; They’re looking at a Co-ownership deal and La Viola only want to loan out the youngster. Let’s see how this transpires…

Forza Ragazzi !

In all honesty, I’d be lying if said I’m pissed and surprised, Aldo’s rants and signings had Serie B written all over it since day 1. Anyways, why would Serie A deserve a team with no (infra)structure or Primavera that has produced nothing but indirectly moulding Giorgio Chiellini,Cristiano Lucarelli and Marco Amelia. I’m not saying Livorno will be pulling an Ancona and disappear but Livorno need to work on the company before being a real Serie A worthy team. 150,000 population and the highest unemployment rate(Top 10 for sure) in all of Italy but they still manage to get UEFA cup action and memorable moments. But Aldo fucked it all up, while pocketing enough to leave Livorno without an empty wallet. The only thing that pisses me off about Livorno this year, is that Relegation has Aldo Spinelli-behind the scenes-calciopoli-esque-string-pulling written all over it. It clearly feels like it was wanted or planned or whatever. With Orsi coming back to insure everything would go down (pun intended) as planned! That’s what pisses me off the most !

Fuckin’ Aldo saying at the beginning of the season how this was the most talented team he
had ever put together, maybe if this was the end of the 1990’s Aldo because Diego Tristan is what I would call a has been. 1 goal form the Spaniard, 1 measely fuckin’ goal all season. Francesco Tavano ? What the hell was that ? Replacing Lucarelli, a hometown hero/legend with Tavano!? He’s isn’t even a has been god damn it he’s a never was at all. Oh yeah and backing up this untalented duo with Fausto Rossini and Francesco- I didn’t play a single minute all fuckin’ year – Volpe. Thank God Ale Diamanti pulled some talent out of his ass because we would of looked even worse on the pitch all season.

And now Aldo’s saying how he’ll be starting over with the Lucarelli brothers in Serie B, yeah right Aldo and Irishpeople don’t like potatoes. Stop Lying you fat bastard! Basically I’m pissed and my mind is disorganised and I’m sure you all feel the same way

Forza Ragazzi !

What a frustrating game !!!

The only reason I’m not extremely pissed off right now is because we’re still mathematically in the running towards being Serie A next non-relegated team. Chances are looking crappy but it’s still a possibility! Ok, i know that we have about the same chances of not going down as Italian Parents have of seeing their 29 year old son moving out of the house, but like Yogi Bear would say : I don’t hear no fat lady singing just yet!

How Low can you go !

We had the chance to witness what happens when Marco Amelia plays like a mere mortal and not a goalie with superpowers. But above all,Fernando Orsi managed in 1 game to remind me why I hated him since the very beginning of the season; Tristan from the start ? Then Rossini ? What the hell ? Diamonds aren’t only a girl’s best friend Nando !!! How about having some balls their Nando ? Diamanti’s on freakin’ fire and you chose to play Tristan,Tavano and Rossini before the Diamond in the rough !? Ma chè Cazzo !

Orsi has managed to pick up…let me see…2 points all year TWO DAMN IT! GC Camolese managed to win 1 game at least ; Hell ! he even beat AC Milan and managed to draw Roma twice! How can you go from conceding 1 goal in Roma, to let 3 goals in against a bored/experimental Atalanta squad ? ( I mean Atalanta doesn’t even have an Offside Blog! How less credible can a club get?) Aldo Spinelli might as well bring back Camolese for the next 2 games, because he looks like he’s doing everything on purpose to see Livorno go down. Aldo ! A team in Serie B is harder to sell than a Serie A squad you yellow raincoat wearing lunatic !

Lowlights, but 20 Euros GRATIS! :

MARCATORI: Doni (A) al 12′ s.t., Ferreira Pinto (A) al 15′ s.t., Rossini (L) al 20′ s.t., Pavan (L) al 38′ s.t., Padoin (A) al 44′ s.t..
ATALANTA (4-4-1-1): Coppola; Rivalta, Talamonti (23′ st Pellegrino), Manfredini, Bellini; Ferreira Pinto, Tissone (32′ st Bonaventura sv), Guarente, Padoin; Doni (16′ st Marconi); Floccari. (Ivan, Belleri, Paolucci, Fissore). All. Del Neri

NOTE: spettatori 6.500. Ammoniti: Pavan, Knezevic, Pasquale e Guarente per gioco falloso, Bellini per fallo di mano. Angoli: 3-2 per il Livorno Recupero: 1′ e 4′

Frustrating! Frustrating! Frustrating!

GC Camolese somehow got the best out of this restrictive (to say the least) roster of players. Unfortunately, Fernando Orsi thinks Tavano and Tristan are the players they once were.

Tavano : It’s so frustrating to see Francesco Tavano suck it hard week in and week out.
I won’t give him more than 23 words.

Bogdani : Where the hell is Bogdani ? I’m checkin’ on Mapquest (ok, google Maps) and I’m only finding

Tristan ; My mourning of Super Depor Diegol Tristan ‘s career ended 2 weeks after his goal against Roma.

Filippini : Both of them, they try so freakin’ hard and they always leave it all on the pitch at the end of each and every game, but they both lack the height, pace and overall talent. These 2 would be gods in Serie B/C but they don’t cut it when it comes to performing in Serie A.

Loviso : Common ! Ex-Italia U-21 my ass !

Rossini : please don’t get me started on this guy! He’s a scrapper I’ll give him that, he gives his all and works hard. But saying he has limited talent is more of an understatement than saying that Dane Cook sucks or Mary-Kate Olsen is talented and thin. This Algonquin looking striker needs to be a 5th option at best !

Grandoni : Good defender, decent player and stupid decision maker.

Pasquale : I’m pissed because this Champions League-experienced-versatile-Inter Homegrown- Back is one of the few players you can have some expectations from. He didn’t deliver all freakin’ season long.

Bergvold, Amelia, Knezevic, Galante, Daniele – Rosso Directo – De Vezze, Pulzetti, Bogdani, Giannichedda and Diamanti are the only players that could be useful to a Serie A team.Thank god we have 2 players going to Euro 2008 because if you round up all of the names on the roster and say them out loud, it sounds a lot like a midtable Serie B team. Come to think of it ….

Forza Ragazzi ! 6 punti porco dio ! 6 punti Cazzo !

*this photo pretty much sums up our Serie A situation

So it doesn’t get more meaningful than this. Livorno need to head into Bergamo with a knife in their teeth and all cylinders going. This game is THE game of the season, until next week of course. But Livorno need to take 3 points against a nothing-left-to-win-or-lose Atalanta squad. Who cares about Fernando Orsi being the coach, Aldo’s crazyness and Marco Amelia’s health it’s all about survival right now. Stick the team bus infront of the nets and hope that Alè Diamanti’s lethal left foot strikes again !

Forza Ragazzi !

Probable Formations

Atalanta

(4-4-1-1):
Coppola,
Fissore, Talamonti, Manfredini, Bellini,
Ferreira Pinto, Tissone, Guarente, Padoin,
Doni,
Floccari

Livorno

(3-5-2):
Amelia,
Knezevic, Pavan, Grandoni,
Balleri, Pulzetti, Bergvold, A. Filippini, Pasquale,
Diamanti, Tavano

This what Happened last time

Prediction : 2-1 Livorno

Atalanta’ll get one but Diamanti and Tavano will bring back 3 points to the Picchi. They have to, they need to !
Forza Amaranto !

Fernando Orsi returns to the exact same situation that saw him lose his job earlier this season; a last placed Livorno Squad. The Burgundy Boys had a nice stretch under GC Camolese ; Picking up 2 points against Roma and 3 against Milan. Not to mention the surprise draws versus Udinese and Inter. But what could be asked from GC Camolese. With the type of talent he had to his disposal, I feel that GC Camolese made the most of his opportunity. He managed to turn around the team’s play earlier this season by changing the training regimen and experimenting with different types of formations. Had he been in place from day 1, things would have been different I’m sure. We can always argue that GC Camolese was hyper defensive and relied way too heavily on the defensive aspects of the game. He even managed to field 5 CB for a couple of games, bringing back Helenio Herrera’s heritage to Serie A.

But isn’t the defensive aspect the most important when your team is called Livorno? With the non-depth provided by Aldo Spinelli during the summer, replacing Stefano Morrone and C. Lucarelli with Vikash Dhorasso, Diego Tristan and Francesco Tavano isn’t exactly the best investments you can find. At least he managed to find Diamanti, but it seems like GC Camolese found out how to use the youngster too late in the season. Diamanti’ll be great in Serie B next year, and has probably already showed enough to stay in Serie A, let’s hope he does it with Livorno.

But to Aldo’s defence, Livorno definitely needs some sort of adrenaline shot straight to the heart. In the Post-Maybe-Jesus-was-Born-Today- Season, Livorno have picked up 8 measly points; 1 win, 5 draws and 10 losses. Even though I love the enthusiasm and spirit GC Camolese brought to the Amaranto Liberation Army, 8 points in 16 games kind of sucks donkey dick. 1 point every other game isn’t going to cut it.

So out goes GC Camolese and back comes Fernando Orsi. This, to me, means 2 things. Aldo wants to shake things up, but isn’t willing to open his wallet as much as his mouth. Unfortunately, this is the story of the season. He plucked 3 has-beens from the UEFA’s Most Unwanted player list and thought that was enough to see the team stay in Serie A long enough to cash in on the sale of the team, as well as Lucarelli’s and hopefully, Amelia. These types of decisions are the ones of a man about to walk out on something.

At least, Fernando Orsi gets a half-assed chance to redeem himself to Livorno’s fans with 3 games left and an unhealthy Marco Amelia. ‘Nando Orsi will be able to start over exactly where he left off; last place ;

#1 Atalanta ;

Semi good thing; away game + Atalanta have nothing to lose or win anymore. Good chance at taking 3 here.

#2 Torino

At Home, direct relegation battler, unfortunately Torino’s a better team. Diamanti vs Rosina

#3 Empoli

I’m just hoping that Livorno will be able to come in to this game with everything left to win. If that can happen, I think our chances at salvation are looking good. Nothing like a Tuscan Derby on the last day of the year, especially with the words Relegation and Sudden Death sprinkled on it !

Let’s hope Fernando Orsi can manage what he pulled off Last year. As long as Livorno don’t finish the season like they started it and maybe we’ll be able to enjoy the joys of Serie A for one more season. In the meantime, I just want to witness some exciting hard fought matchs !

Forza Ragazzi, Salviamoci ! !

I didn’t get the chance to see the game, but I’m sure Vincent, who was at the Armando Picchi for this game, will insert some juicy tidbits in the comment thread once he sobers up from the high (or Low) of attending a game in Livorno. Aron also talked about how we got screwed on a couple of occasions by the refs.

4-1 isn’t that great but we all know that Livorno isn’t the best squad at home, especially if Marco Amelia isn’t keeping the nets. Unfortunately, Pippo managed to score a hat trick, bringing his total for the season at 9 goals, 33% of those happened this afternoon god damn it ! They beat us at home and we beat them at home. If you have told me at the beginning of the season that Livorno would take 3 points from AC Milan this year, I would have taken it right away.

We’re back at the bottom of the standings and we now get the chance to appreciate the company of Reggina and Parma in the bottom 3.

We gotta give it our all in the last 3 games, Salvation is still a mathematical probability

Lowlights

1-0

2-0

3-0

4-0

4-1

Forza Ragazzi abbiamo ancora tempo !

Not the happiest of times in Leghorn for the moment, the unemployement rate is still disastrous, Silvio Berlusconi gets back in to office (which must make the citizens of the PCI birthplace very proud)(what is this like the 64th Government post WW2?) and Livorno is the worst team in Serie A with very little time left to correct that.

GC Camolese has seen his job security go from none to zero (i don’t know how that’s possible but Aldo Spinelli has a very peculiar way of dealing with coaches, not Zamparini peculiar but you get what i’m trying to say right ?)

So here’s a little Livorno news that won’t lift your morale livornese but it’ll maybe take your mind off of Relegation for 76 seconds….

Aldo Spinelli is Out of it for sure now. The Fiery President has all but confirmed (again) that this is his last year as Livorno’s president. He’s getting all nostalgic on us

Massimo Oddo’s Dad, Francesco has been sayin’ that Old man Spinelli has told him to be ready just in case GC Camolese doesn’t get through the month of May. Yeah Oddo’s dad and all the other unemployed coaches not called Fernando Orsi.

Cristiano Lucarelli feels sorry for Livorno but doesn’t think that he could have changed the Burgundy Boys destiny. It’s not like he wants us to be relegated or anything

Ale Grandoni looks like he’s drawing interest form Fiorentina. The 31 year old defender is on the last miles of his contract and is looking at all the options just in case Livorno take that B drop.

Erjon Bogdani is nostalgic about his Flying Donkey days and is considering returning to Romeo and Juliet’s City.

Tottenham still wants Marco Amelia between it’s sticks next seasons

No one’s interested in Fausto Rossini

Why’s everybody talking like this season’s over ?

Avanti Amaranto !