[FM08] American Calcio

Sunday, November 18
Biennale is over and Patty is presumably on a plane headed back for the United States. Kate is on her way back to England, I don’t care where Peter McGuire is, and I’m sitting here in Padua fighting to hold myself together.

I spent a very quiet day wondering about things I shouldn’t be wondering about and finally knew there was nothing else for it. I put a Novara DVD into my player, took out my notes from the Venezia match I saw, and started to figure out how to shut down the highest scoring team in Serie C1A. As I wrote earlier this year, it was something to do.


Monday, November 19
David Sinigaglia and Raffaele Rubino are a dynamic duo for Novara. They’ve already combined for thirteen league goals this season and since that’s just a few less than my entire side has scored to this point, I have to be concerned about that.

I also have to be concerned about playing them on the road. It’s a fairly short trip, but they are an excellent home side and if we aren’t watertight at the back we’re going to get overwhelmed.

We’ll also enter the match with identical records – each team has seven wins, four draws and one loss, so the teams are fairly evenly matched. We play better defense than they do and they are better offensively than we are. Immovable object, meet unstoppable force.

I greeted a very loose squad of players today and installed not only the plan for Novara, but also a rudimentary look at SPAL, which we will play in the second round of the Serie C Cup a week from Wednesday.

Again, we have the first match on the road, which is just fine with me. Players know that in a week’s time there’s football for everyone again, and that makes us a happy ship.

Rested legs led to a good if slightly sloppy training session today, with the players in a good mood.

Today, though, I spent most of my time with Crovari, Sacchetti and Faísca working on a special plan to deal with Sinigaglia and Rubino.

Rubino is a classic, and red-hot, striker. Sinigaglia is a perfect foil for him, a slightly taller and very pacy predator who seems to enjoy creating mayhem in his opponents’ penalty area. The two have been devastating and for me, the key to the whole match will be my captain’s play.

Crovari is playing, despite his offensive and ball-moving deficiencies, because he’s the best man-marking midfielder I have, and he’s going to help with both strikers as his primary responsibility. I want him thinking defensively and today we went over how I want him to do it.

We want to make this Federico’s kind of match – slow-paced and deliberate. If we get in a shootout with Novara we might wind up flying back to Padua and we all know it.

To get a result we’re going to have to slow them down, counter them in all likelihood, and above all, figure out how to start taking our chances when we get them. And with Novara’s hair-on-fire defensive style, we can count on getting at least a few of those chances.

After the training session today I retreated to my office and reviewed my notes from the Venezia match, where the two of them combined for all five of their team’s goals. After reading those notes and watching a couple of DVDs I was nearly ready to skip my dinner.

I haven’t had much of an appetite anyway for the last few days, so perhaps that is for the best.


Getting back into the routine is probably the best thing for me.

I put away a few mementoes of my time with Patty – I don’t yet have the heart to throw them away, though I suppose that’s coming sometime soon – and settled into my easy chair to start my work.

So far, I haven’t managed to mess that up too badly. But as the writers might say, the season is still young.

Before I went to bed tonight my e-mail browser buzzed at a late hour. I saw from the address line that it was from Kate.

“Well, I haven’t been through enough today,” I said, opening the note. “Why not try some more?”

I was immediately sorry I had opened it. The mail wasn’t from Kate:

“Ridgway: You told me to write when I found work. I’m sitting here in my office, on my wife’s e-mail. So I did what you said. Now how about you write me when you find a woman?

I’ve beaten you. You crossed me and you lost. Who’s the little man now?

- Peter McGuire”

Tuesday, November 20
Life is starting to settle back into a more or less normal pattern despite the events of the last week and all I can say is that it’s welcome.

The national side’s loss in Glasgow is still dominating the sports pages here and I suspect it will for awhile yet. Italy’s last qualifying match against the Faroes is now completely meaningless and instead of it being a coronation of sorts, I suspect a number of the players might now prefer it to be an away fixture.

Today’s opinion columns – including a rather scathing effort from Emiliani, which doesn’t surprise me – are calling for recriminations in the national setup and I don’t envy anyone associated with it.

There are a large number of people here who expect success from the national team almost as a matter of divine right, and when it doesn’t come, there’s hell to pay.

But that doesn’t matter to me – all it means for now is that the focus is elsewhere and that is just fine with me.

I’m still pretty down and wondering what I did to deserve such miserable luck with the opposite sex, but getting back to work continues to help to the extent that it can.

All I’m wondering is if my telling Patty I loved her meant so much, why would she forget that meaning so quickly after I said it? I’m now realizing that the more time I spend thinking about it, the more frustrated I get. That isn’t worth it, of course, so I move on to other things.

I met with the defenders and holding midfielders today after the main training session for an extended look at Rubino and Sinigaglia on video.

I don’t want the players to approach their assignments this weekend with apprehension, but I do want them to know what to expect. We went over tendencies, we went over shooting strengths, and we went over how to play them.

We know who is responsible for providing help in certain areas of the pitch and I do believe the players understand their assignments. We have three days to work on things and if they rise to the occasion I do think we have a good chance.

Then I went home to think. Again.

Wednesday, November 21
At midweek in our preparation, I’ve got a completely different distraction and it’s one I wouldn’t have dreamed possible even two months ago.

The Dallas Morning News ran a story this morning claiming that former Chicago Fire defender Rob Rigdway heads a shortlist to become the new manager of FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.

With MLS now in close season, speculation on most of that league’s managerial posts appears to be opening up. In terms of distraction, it’s comparatively mild from a purely personal point of view.

At this point in my career I have no interest whatever in that post or any job in MLS with the sole exception of Los Angeles due to its ambition. MLS has changed its rules to allow more foreign players – each club will be able to carry eight on a roster for the coming season – but at this point it’s not for me.

Having played in the league, what MLS is – and from the standpoint of growth in the game in America, correctly so – is a development league for American talent.

I have long been of the opinion that for America’s best players to grow, they need to be over here. The fact that I can be here as a manager is a good thing too. So from that point of view, it’s not much of a distraction.

However, for some media here, the thought of an American club coming to rescue me from the rigors of Europe is amusing. So I had to spend more than a little time today defusing questions designed to speculate and cast heat rather than shed light.

“Interesting story they wrote,” I said, as the players departed from the afternoon training session. With seven time zones worth of difference between Padua and the American Midwest, the story hit the news wires at about noon local time and took another couple of hours to filter down to Italian media.

“Are you interested in going back to America?”

“Not really,” I said. “I do have a job to do here and even though it seems sometimes like you’re trying to chase me away from it, I do plan to stay here and bother you for awhile yet.”

They appreciated my attempt at humor, anyway.


After a quiet dinner out on the town, I returned to my apartment and flipped on the light to read a book before bed.

It’s rare that I have genuine time for myself but recent events seem to find me having more and more of it to spare. I turned on my satellite radio and had to laugh out loud at the song I heard.

I’m not much for country music but the strains of a classic Texas Swing song described my mood perfectly. The legendary Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys sang the first verse of “Lone Star Beer” and I had to laugh out loud even though Patty is from the Midwest:


Maybe going home wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world after all.


I’m not quite done with McGuire, yet, though. His e-mail was cruel – as cruel as I had been to him in Venice and more. There’s a long way to go before I’m done with him and that’s a promise.

Kate obviously found out about her husband’s e-mail to me because she wrote me tonight using a subject line she knew only I would understand.

She used my private name for her in the heading. Her full name is Katherine Joy Southerland and I called her “Happiness”. That was a reflection on her middle name as well as the effect she had on me. The message was entitled “Happiness for Rob”.

So I opened it.

My dear Rob:

I am tired of apologizing on Peter’s behalf so I won’t try. I know he was beastly to you again and I don’t blame you for hating him.

I have thought long and hard about what I told you about Patty and Peter. I know it is probably no consolation to you, but the reason they had a relationship was because of something I did.

After we broke up, I couldn’t just forget about you and I know you probably felt the same way. I started seeing Peter a few months after you moved to Chicago and at first I didn’t love him. Then he proved himself to me and I agreed to marry him after he promised to stay here and raise a family.

Then Patty came into the picture. She was stationed in London and had common business with Peter – away from Reading. After I got back from Venice last week and we had it out, he told me that he started to flirt with her and at first it was nothing, but then he said I had done a bad thing and deserved what I got.

Rob, I saved every letter, e-mail and note you ever wrote me from the road. Even after we broke up. I couldn’t bear to part with them – they were a part of you, so sweet and so kind and so loving. I didn’t think there would be any harm in that but he certainly did. He found them and he read with his own eyes how much you care for me.

He then started a relationship with Patty, unknown to me. His jealousy is boundless, and I suppose I should be happy about that in a way. However, now that I have seen how badly that jealousy hurt you, both directly and indirectly, I can’t abide by it any longer.

Patty rarely came to Reading, never knew about me, and he would see her when he went to London on daily business. He made up a story to her about how he would travel out of town – when he was really coming home. He duped us both.

Finally, when I gave birth to our second child, Peter felt some remorse and ended the relationship with Patty. Yet when he heard you were coming back to Europe, he got every bit as jealous as he got when he found the letters I kept. He went after Patty because he figured, rightly I trust, that she would want to revenge herself on him.

I can’t even tell you how much it hurt to find out what happened. He had even mentioned Patty to me in our home as a “prior relationship” – but the note I found that he wrote to you helped me put two and two together. There would have been no reason in the world for him to poison Patty for you unless there was something he wanted to hide. And he had something to hide, didn’t he?

I had my suspiscions but I didn’t get up the nerve to say anything until I met Patty in Venice. She has had a lot of pain caused by Peter as well, Rob. I’m just desperately sorry you were caught in this crossfire.

That’s how all this started. I still don’t know what I am going to do, Rob, but if you’ve read this far in this note you know one thing for certain.

I meant every word I said about taking you back. I did love you, I do love you, and I will continue to love you regardless of what happens in my marriage. After what I have been through, I think I deserve that.

Yours.
Kate

Thursday, November 22
I got no sleep last night. However, I was able to put another rumor to bed today.

I was able to put speculation on Dallas to rest today but now speculation is coming from a different part of the Midwest.

The Columbus Crew are also shopping for a new manager to replace Sigi Schmid and again I’m being linked. So after today’s training, the same questions were being asked by the same people about a different team.

“Same answer as yesterday,” I said. “Still not going anywhere.”


Meanwhile, as much time as I’ve spent concerned about Novara’s forwards, I’ve had to make some decisions regarding my own players as well.

With the midweek Cup tie coming up, I’m back to a more or less rotational policy for the next ten days. Donadoni has played quite well in the cup competitions but not as well when I have brought him on in the league, so the central defense decision is easy.

The decisions to be made up front deal with Gentile v. Rabito in central midfield and the proper strike combination. Varricchio has had the hot hand so he will be one. Muzzi hasn’t been so hot recently and as a result may drop to the bench for Sunday.

It has been fairly simple to decide on most of the XI so far. Now, with the cup matches starting to mean a bit more, it might not be so clear-cut henceforth.


I’d settle for anything in my life being clear-cut at the moment. I had a nightmare this evening that kept me up for the rest of the night.

I dreamed I was walking along the banks of the Bacchiglione River, one of the two main rivers flowing around the city of Padua. As I walked, I came across McGuire and Patty walking in the opposite direction, arm in arm. They looked at me, laughed, and kissed. I woke up with a start. I felt dirty and used.

Sadly, I looked up at the ceiling.

“Kate, where are you when I really need you?” I asked.


Friday, November 23
Media previews are out for Sunday’s match and being on the road has made us a slight underdog.

I can’t really complain much about that. Despite playing well in our last match against Pro Patria, our away form has been a bit spotty so far and to be away from Euganeo will give Novara an edge.

I reject the notion, though, that Novara should be a solid favorite. The bookmakers have established the odds at close to level, with the home team a 6-4 selection.

“I think it’s fair for the way Novara has played, especially at home,” I told media today. “Yet that doesn’t mean I am willing to accept being second-best on Sunday. We do have expectations and I do believe we will meet them. They are a fine side but if we play defensively like we can play, I think we’ll be all right.”

There has been surprisingly little talk from either camp about the game. Ordinarily in a situation where two clubs at the top of a table face each other, you’ll see something inflammatory in the papers before the match.

But not this time. I think people are waiting to see what happens and that is fine with me. I have no desire for my words to wind up on someone’s bulletin board.

We’re leaving tomorrow and will spend Saturday night in Novara, which is about 30 miles west of Milan. It will be good to be on the road and out of town for a night. The walls have been getting a little close this week, especially at night, and to have a little breathing space without people watching my every move will be nice.

So far, people have been pretty quiet around me regarding the events of last week. That’s a good thing, too. I wouldn’t react well to it and right now I am insulated to the point where I can get by day to day without too much trouble.

And it is quite true that a portion of my woes come from my own imagination. I do get looks from people when I walk down the street, and now as I walk I wonder what they are for. Are people acknowledging our success, my position, or simply saying, ‘there goes the poor idiot’?

Professional self-pity isn’t something I generally indulge for too long, and in this business that’s a must. So my reaction to recent events actually worries me a bit.

Still, I can’t be too concerned about it, or results will slip and I’ll get run out of town. The time to toughen up is right now.

Saturday, November 24
We made the trip west this afternoon and from the sounds of things you’d never guess there was anything wrong.

I was able to forget for awhile. I had a terrific time talking with my coaches as we rumbled across northern Italy on the way to Novara.

We resumed the running poker game as soon as we got out of town and before we knew it, we were in Milan with a light-hearted team ready for tomorrow’s challenge.

Looking at the schedule, I don’t know how much help we’re going to get from the rest of the league. Obviously our eyes have to be on our own papers at Silvio Piola but others will be watching Sassuolo at Foggia and Venezia at home to Cavese.

Obviously, we learned the hard way about Cavese but I’m hoping Foggia can find a way to hold the league leaders playing at home.

I also decided on the strikers. I can’t leave Muzzi out because Varricchio plays off him quite well. As hot as Massimiliano is, I can’t change his routine or his surroundings before such an important match for my club.

I told Roberto he was playing and he nodded with satisfaction. At age 36, the same age as I am, he’s been just about everywhere in Italy and has seen it all.

I don’t think he was surprised I was thinking of sitting him down, but at the same time he does know regardless of whether he’s in the XI for a given match he enjoys my confidence.

Yet everyone wants to play, especially in a top of the table match and I’ll have a motivated player tomorrow.

The expectations are there. Our hopes are high. We’re ready to get back onto the pitch again after two weeks off. So let’s get to it.


Unfortunately, I still have reminders of my “past life” that keep cropping up from time to time.

Tonight in our hotel room I happened to go through the picture folder on my phone and came across a picture I have loved since the moment it was taken.

I saw a picture of Patty taken on her second visit to my apartment, and it’s really breathtaking. She wore an outfit I quickly grew to love as I grew to love her. When I saw Patty in it, I had to take her picture.

She obliged in a playful, happy pose and whenever I felt I missed her a bit too much, I would look at the picture as a way to feel better.

Now, though, the picture stuck me like a dagger. I looked at her smiling face, and I thought she might as well have been on Mars now for all that smile mattered.

“What the hell did I do to deserve this?” I sighed, trying to control a wave of emotion. I prepared to delete the picture but couldn’t bring myself to push the button.

Then anger got the better of me.

“What the hell did I do to deserve being treated like that?” I finally asked, pushing the button. The picture disappeared into blackness, right alongside my mood.

Sunday, November 25
Novara v Padova – Serie C1A
One of Webster’s definitions of the word anticlimax is “an event, period, or outcome that is strikingly less important or dramatic than expected”.

That pretty well sums up today’s match, in which the ‘immovable object’ stopped the ‘irresistible force’, but the only way we’d have had a chance to win would be to hold them to minus one goal. We rarely looked like scoring either, which was disappointing for a reason I’ll relate later.

In all, I was delighted with our defensive play. We did a very good job on Sinigaglia and Rubino, and when we didn’t slow them down, Orlandoni stopped them to earn a man of the match award on the road.

But offensively, we weren’t real good even though managed to generate fifteen attempts at goal, four more than our hosts.

That said, we were wasteful, getting only five on target and of those, only one really troubled keeper Davide Micillo. That chance was a hard drive by Baú during first half injury time that was palmed around the right post by the keeper’s acrobatic save.

At halftime I did the only thing I could realistically do – I told the players to keep their intensity up and complimented one and all for the job they were doing against the Novara scorers. I also met quickly with Crovari and the central defenders to make sure there were no questions and to give the players my observations on Novara’s approach.

They were quite professional and I soon retreated to the outer hallway to allow Masolini to continue his portion of the team talk.

I do tend to have one habit that is known to annoy the unwary during our matches – I pace the hallway outside the changing room. I pace the touchline when my team is playing and for me it’s just a way to burn off nervous energy.

Today, though, it gave me a chance to think. We had done everything I asked the team to do in the first half except score, and I used the remaining minutes of the halftime break to mentally revisit Novara’s defensive approach. They were playing a simple 4-4-2 that we should have been able to break down more easily than we were doing.

As the second half started we became a little more fluent offensively and started to hit Novara on the break, leading to better chances. However, once we got the ball in decent scoring positions we then turned quite wasteful. That to me was as bad as not getting in position at all.

Muzzi scooped over from ten yards on a gilt-edged chance to score five minutes after the restart, and we continued to play well defensively too. Rubino did get one free header off a corner on 58 minutes but nodded the ball straight into Orlandoni’s grateful hands to preserve the goalless draw.

Then, eight minutes from time, we did get a break as Novara’s Andrea Coletto hacked down substitute Rabito as he approached the Novara penalty area. Colletto had already been carded, and referee Luigi Nasca rewarded the cynical challenge with the player’s second yellow card.

Now we had an opening. I waited a moment to see how the sending off would affect our opponents’ alignment and when they pulled off Sinigaglia to stay with four defenders, I knew we could push forward.

I signaled for 4-3-3 and waved for the players to push forward in search of a late winner. And though we dominated the last eight minutes of regular time and all the stoppage time, we couldn’t produce a goal. That was disappointing. Novara’s defense bent but didn’t break.

Nasca sounded the full time whistle and we headed off with a split in the points that made no one happy. Still, I couldn’t argue. It was a fair result.

As I gathered the squad around me in the changing room after the match, I chose to stay upbeat.

“We worked the plan and we stopped them,” I said. “You get full marks for that. In attack we still lack that cutting edge so that’s what we’ll be working on during the coming week. Excellent job on their strikers today and you’re leaving here with a point you deserve. Get ready to go home. The coach leaves in an hour.”

With that I went off to talk with my friends in the media, who I’m sure were hanging on my every word. Or, perhaps not.

“I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t put more pressure on them, especially in the second half when I thought we had much the better of play,” I said. “We knocked the ball around pretty well in the second half and made some space for ourselves, but we couldn’t do anything with that space. They had a good report on us and they played us quite well.”

“We were told that shutting down Baú and your wide players was the key to stopping you.”

“We’ve been getting very good play from our wing players and our strikers have been getting very good service,” I said. “The key to things for us at the moment is finding that cutting edge, which I mentioned to the players, and also figuring out how to be constructive with the ball when our wide game is taken away.”

“Orlandoni has been a real hero for you at times this season,” Emiliani said, making a rare positive statement.

“He has,” I smiled. “For him to make the step to Serie C from Inter probably took a bit of doing, but he has been an anchor for us. Our defenders have done an outstanding job all season and the presence we have had all season along our back line is the primary reason we’ve been as successful as we’ve been. We don’t often panic at the back and it shows in our results.”

“You gave their strikers little room today as well.”

“We did a fine job against two of the top strikers in our league. We didn’t score, I’m not thrilled that we didn’t score, but we did what we came here to do, which was keep a clean sheet. So I am happy.”


I’m not so happy with the scoreboard from the rest of the league. As good as we were defensively today we still dropped in the table.

Sassuolo continues its torrid run, having now gone thirteen without a loss after winning 1-0 at Foggia. Venezia did what I feared they might, handling Cavese 3-nil at Pierluigi Penzo. So with our draw today, we lose ground against two of our main rivals.

We’re now third outright, with 26 points to Venezia’s 28 and Sassuolo’s 29. So we can go on the road, shut down the two top marksmen in Serie C1 and still lose ground. Funny game, football.

Yet there was an overriding positive to the day. I hadn’t thought about Patty all day. It was important to my own sense of well-being that I show I can do my job in spite of it all. This was done.

I may not like it, but my loss won’t consume me. I hope.
Novara 0-0 Padova

Monday, November 26
The fallout from yesterday’s draw hasn’t been so bad.

The papers have been reasonably kind, the supporters have been understanding and after a night to sleep on it, even the curmudgeonly manager isn’t terribly upset.

But having had a chance to think about it, there are other changes I may want to make soon.

Crovari picked up his fourth yellow card of the season yesterday, leading to his suspension for next weekend’s home match against Foligno.

We’re facing the 17th placed side on our pitch so we ought to be halfway decent against them based on records, and with the captain out, I will need to find a replacement.

But I’m thinking already that it won’t be Anaclerio. It will be Paz. I need a different look in that holding position with the idea of increasing offensive fluency, especially in the counterattacking setup I prefer when we lead the game.

Crovari is a better defensive player but Paz is certainly competent, and a better passer of the ball. At home, I think the tradeoff will be okay for us, and it gives me a chance to play Cotroneo at right back. He deserves a little more playing time for his work against Igea Virtus in the Cup, so hopefully that will all work out in the coming week.

However, that won’t solve my immediate problem, which is to figure out how to squeeze more out of our road performance.

It’s hard to complain when we’ve lost only one of our first thirteen league matches, but when the top team hasn’t lost any and has taken us behind the woodshed in the process, I have to look for more points somewhere.

Today, though, our attention turned to SPAL, our opponent in the Cup on Wednesday night in Ferrara.

It will be a short trip for us – just 52 miles separate the cities – and since we are right back into action on Sunday, it’s good not to have a lot of windshield time to worry about as well.

They are playing fairly well in their league but there’s no reason to believe we can’t take their measure over three hours of open play. So today we began work on figuring out how to best make that happen – starting with our finishing, which was lacking at Novara and which needs to improve on a general basis.

Muzzi in particular is having trouble. He seems to spurn one or two really fabulous chances a game nowadays and from a confidence standpoint it may soon start to tell.

Considering what Roberto has done in his career and the places he’s been, he isn’t yet lacking for confidence and that is important during times when production lacks. He continues to help create chances as well, so it’s hard to remove him completely when buildup is often just as important as the finish.

Still, we need to start scoring goals. No time like the present.

Tuesday, November 27
Again, the rotational policy for my forwards will be in place. Especially since we didn’t score on Sunday, I don’t have an in-form striker to hold down a place for tomorrow’s match.

That’s fine, in a way, since Di Nardo is itching to get back into the XI for tomorrow anyway and I need to get him a game. He’s done pretty well with Paponi both on the pitch during matches and recently in training, so that’s what I’ll go with until forced to do something different.

We also spent a bit of time today looking ahead toward Foligno’s visit on Sunday. I am concerned about Foligno for one reason – they have the worst disciplinary record in the league and it’s not even close.

They have had six players sent off already and they don’t mind physical challenges. I am not calling them a dirty team – we’ve already lost four man-games due to suspension ourselves thanks to two red cards and two yellow card suspensions – but Foligno has raised getting sent off to an art form so far this season.

Too, it’s not lost upon me that two of our four man-games lost to suspension have come from my captain, one of which will be Sunday. Crovari’s position is coming under scrutiny, and it has to – he’s not doing me any good suspended and the club needs him to lead from on the pitch.

Foligno likes to “man up” to its opposition and we’ll have to be ready to face a strong team. That will definitely mean Varricchio, the tallest and most physically imposing striker I have, is in the eleven and we’ll have to make other decisions based on the possibility of a physical presence from our visitors.

On the back line, I’m pretty confident we can handle them. But we have to get through tomorrow first.

Wednesday, November 28
SPAL v Padova – Serie C Cup

Our Serie C Cup second round tie got off to a flying start tonight – and really, the match was over in the first five minutes.

By the time some in the crowd of 3,708 at Paolo Mazza had found their seats, we already led 2-0. One goal in the first five minutes qualifies as a dream start – but two is darned near perfect.

We had a relaxed trip to Ferrara this afternoon, got off the coach and got straight into the match. I told the squad before the match that they had the quality to deal with their lower-level opposition and they showed their belief in a very profound way.

Music, restored to the left side of midfield, scored his second goal of the season on a rebound of a powerful shot by Rabito on virtually our first foray into the offensive half of the pitch. Brazilian goalkeeper Matheus parried the ball to his right and Music beat the defense to it, banking his shot in off the fallen keeper who raised an arm in a futile attempt at a miraculous double save.

We had the ball in their net just eighty seconds later after Stefano Mazzocco stole a bad pass from SPAL’s kickoff. His direct ball for Paponi found our loan striker in full flight and he eased the ball to his left, onto the path of the onrushing Di Nardo. Antonio saw Matheus off his line and scored with a glorious little lob from just inside the eighteen-yard box to make it 2-0 with four and a half minutes on the clock.

Our bench erupted and I showed a rather unaccustomed level of emotion at the quality of our start. Two plays of different types – one featuring hustle, the other featuring craft and guile – had put us two to the good.

After that strong start, however, the SPAL defense stabilized to stop the bleeding. We had a couple of good chances for a third but with two away goals in the bank at halftime I couldn’t really complain at the break.

The second half was quite similar to the first in that we had command of things early on but didn’t score again. Yet, on 57 minutes we scored our third on a fine play by three squad players.

Anaclerio started it, picking up a free ball about thirty yards from goal, and finding Mazzocco with a quick lead ball. Looking to his right, Stefano shocked everyone by chopping a cheeky backheel in the opposite direction, where Di Nardo had timed his run perfectly. Mazzocco put the ball right into the path of his run, and Di Nardo completed his brace by slotting home from ten yards.

Again, the bench players were on their feet for three guys who are working hard but not always getting the playing time they want. It was really a pretty goal to look at and might have been our best three-way passing play of the entire season. The goal showed wonderful awareness and even better execution from all three players, resulting in a goal that may well put this tie to bed.

We were in such a good mood after scoring the third that even Michele Bonora’s first goal for SPAL seven minutes later from a corner didn’t bother us. Well, most of us didn’t mind it. I minded, especially since it was a free header from a corner. Since I get the last word, that should be enough for everyone else.

However, after that it was a matter of playing out the last half-hour without further damage to the goal difference and we were able to do that. Once again, we generated plenty of chances – 21 of them in fact – but this time we were a lot better at finishing, with nine on target. 3-1 was the score we deserved and it was what we got.

Afterwards, though, the talk was about Di Nardo and how hot he has been in this competition. He still can’t break into the first team for league matches, though, and that’s frustrating to him.

It was more frustrating for SPAL, though, which considers us more of a rival than we seem to consider them. For me, though, everyone’s the same, especially the first time we play each team we face.

I can’t take anyone for granted, can’t put any more importance on any one opponent than any other – and that is how it has to be.

I already know a couple of things, though. I can’t wait to play Sassuolo again at our place and I am looking forward to getting Novara at Euganeo as well. Those are matches where we have left some serious unfinished business and I’d like to take care of that.

There are other things from tonight’s match I’d prefer not to know, though, since I’d rather they not have happened.

Paponi and Donadoni, who have been playing quite well in this competition, both picked up yellow cards and will miss the second leg through suspension.

The Serie C Cup has lower limits for yellow cards before suspensions kick in, and to have a striker suspended for a Cup tie due to yellow cards is pretty disappointing. I can understand losing central defenders like Donadoni from time to time.

I missed my share of games through my career due to yellow cards. As a central defender, sometimes they are almost unavoidable. However, I was never sent off as a professional and part of that is due to getting only three yellow cards for dissent in my entire career.

I didn’t always agree with officials – in fact, I disagreed far more than I agreed – but I didn’t do it in a way that would show them up, so I was able to keep myself on the pitch.

The suspensions mean I’m going to have to play a regular striker and a regular defender in the second leg of the cup tie, when I would prefer not to as we try to stay with the leaders in the league. So cards can hurt in more ways than one.

And when I’m trying to avoid even more pain, that isn’t a good thing.

SPAL 1-3 Padova

Congratulations on that most recent victory! While I haven't been commenting much at all, I've certainly been browsing all three of your stories

Thanks, Justice ... nice to know folks are reading along!
___

Thursday, November 29
It’s now full speed ahead to prepare for Foligno’s visit on Sunday.

A win will pull us level with Sassuolo at the top of the table, but they host Monza on Monday evening in the last game of this round and so could well remain three points clear. Still, it would be good to get to the top for a time, even if we’d lose the tie-break to them.

My media time today dealt with the pressures of playing for the top spot, which is a bit of a far cry from where the conversation was a couple of weeks ago. Still with only the one setback in the league, we are starting to make a few people think we could last the pace for a little while.

That isn’t to say we’ll carry all before us. I think there are deficiencies in this side that won’t be fixed during this season. However, we do seem to have the defensive side of the game down quite well indeed. Happily, if we play well from the keeper outward, we’ll always have a chance.

I was asked about Di Nardo today and I gave the honest truth.

“He’s done well in the Cup and I’d love to find a regular spot for him in the senior squad,” I admitted. “But I have to be realistic. We’re playing a strong, tough opponent on Sunday and that means Varricchio, who might be the toughest player we have. It also means I need veteran guile so that probably means Roberto Muzzi. I won’t tip my hand entirely but we’ve gotten to third place in the table with these players and changing up a successful eleven is never an easy thing to do.”

The selection dilemma is nice. Frankly I don’t mind the media speculation – rare enough for me, considering what has already transpired with certain segments of the press here – because it keeps opponents off balance. As for some of my other dealings with the press, well, the less said the better.


Friday, November 30
As December approaches, one of the biggest problems of my year is rapidly approaching.

Christmas.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a killjoy or anything like that. In fact, I love Christmas. That’s actually part of my problem.

I was looking forward to a happy holiday season with Patty, but now that this isn’t going to happen, my hope is that La Befana will come through with something to brighten my holiday.

The traditions here in Italy are different than they are in the States. Depending on where you are in the country, Jolly Old Saint Nick doesn’t even show up.

In some parts of Italy, Santa Lucia gives out gifts. Or, if you’ve been good, you might get a visit from a lady named La Befana.

The legend describes her as an elderly lady who at first refused an offer to join the Wise Men in searching for the Christ Child because she was too busy cleaning her house. However, she soon recanted and tried to follow the star.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t find the Wise Men and has spent the rest of her life in search of them, dropping off gifts for others as she travels.

Yet the way this year has gone, I’d be stunned if I didn’t get coal in my stocking. It’s not that I’ve been deliberately bad – that’s just how it seems to have worked out.

I hate the thought of being so down at Christmas. So I’m hoping the happy old lady will help lift my spirits. But then at the age of 36, part of me still believes in Santa Claus, so perhaps hope does spring eternal.

The Christmas season here lasts three weeks and ends on January 6 with the observation of Epiphany. That’s unlike the States, where you start seeing holiday decorations in the stores at Halloween and some people don’t take them off their houses until spring.

People are starting to get into the spirit around here, though, and that is always fun to see. Just because I can’t have what I want is no reason to spoil everyone else’s fun. So I’ll be quiet about it and enjoy the season through the happy eyes of others.

Deep down, I have to admit it: the eyes I’d love to see at the moment are back in the States and I’ll never see them again.


Tonight I headed out on the town for the first time since my rather unfortunate foray with Masolini and the coaches.

I went out for dinner, enjoyed a walk through the downtown, and tried to actually enjoy a bit of life. Obviously November has been terrible for me from a personal standpoint, and as I passed Euganeo in the distance I was approached by a young lady.

“You’re Rob Ridgway,” she said.

She was everything they say an Italian woman was supposed to be; dark-haired, long-legged, curvaceous, winsome in her way. She wore a sweater that looked as though it had been spray-painted to her body and a skirt that left none of her curves to the imagination.

I swallowed hard.

“Yes, I am,” I answered. “Are you a club supporter?”

“I am, but it would be better if you just forgot about that for a moment and let me take you home. My name is Gia, I know what happened to you and I’d like to help you forget.”

I looked at her, shocked by her directness, and realized I must have fallen quite a long way indeed for a complete stranger to see me on the street and read my emotional state.

Had I simply nodded my head, as I had done on occasion before I met Kate, Gia would have been perfect.

I wasn’t proud of myself for my reaction to a woman I had never met, but drew what was left of my dignity around me and smiled.

“Thank you, but no,” I finally said. “It wouldn’t be right. Good evening.”

I turned and walked home, pounding the pavement and wondering when I was finally going to turn the corner. I need to lift myself up by my bootstraps and Gia’s proposition should serve as a warning to me.

Eventually, I’ll do it. But not tonight. It’s time for a drink.

Saturday, December 1
We have received quite an interesting offer today that, if we were a slightly richer club, could have quite profound repercussions.

Everton have offered defensive midfielder Anderson Silva to us for €75,000. He would absolutely solve the problems I’ve been having with linking play in the holding midfielder role and his price is certainly affordable.

Unfortunately, his salary probably isn’t. I received permission from the board at this afternoon’s monthly meeting to meet Everton’s asking price, and I wasted no time in doing so. Should be come here, he and Massimiliano Caputo would be my only signings of the January window – because I couldn’t afford any more.

I will probably look to offload a few players as well. Many of my reserve players are already out on loan and by and large the players on my reserve team who are there are going to stay there.

I have a large number of players from my u-20 side who are getting reserve games as we schedule them, and the result is a lot of football for players in my system who need it.

One of those players is 18-year old Milan Grujic, a talented midfielder who has already declared for Serbia. I like the looks of him, especially in the u-20 matches I’ve seen. Against youth competition, when he’s out there it is watching a man play against boys.

He has pace, stamina, and no fair amount of skill. He holds down the central midfield role in the system for the u-20 side. All three of our teams – senior, reserve and u-20 – play the 4-1-3-2 and they are all doing fairly well with it.

Yet, he’s one for the future. Silva, if I could get him, would definitely be one for the present and his capture would make us favorites for promotion. It was exciting to respond to Everton’s fax today and meet their asking price. It makes me feel like I’m doing something.


Naturally, the discussion is being kept quiet because Silva’s arrival would displace my captain.

As much as I’d like to see the player come here, I can’t do it at the expense of existing squad harmony, which is pretty good all things considered.

Our understanding is getting better too, as I had hoped it would. These players can perform in a variety of roles now and my hope is that if we don’t disrupt them too much over the New Year with new purchases or departures, we can hit our form in February and March. The season gets long then and to have us hitting on all cylinders during that time of year will be vital.

Sooner or later, teams will start to figure out the 4-1-3-2 and pressure it. When that happens we’ll have to be ready to respond, especially when we get overrun in the midfield. The challenge is ongoing, the nuances are exciting and it’s just one reason why managing is such a production.

Foligno arrives tomorrow. We are as ready as we are going to get.

Sunday, December 2
Padova v Foligno – Serie C1A
Frankly, I am embarrassed tonight. Today’s match bordered on travesty.

Foligno finished with ten players but we finished with nine, for a variety of reasons I’ll get into later on. The match was every bit as physical as I had feared it might be, but at the end it got ridiculous.

I should have seen it coming when I woke to rain against my window. It hadn’t been forecasted and it was a nasty surprise.

It was about ten degrees Centigrade when I headed to the ground, realizing that to get a result today we would need to grind it out.

I arrived first in the changing room, as is my custom, and worked out before anyone else arrived, as is also my custom. I like to burn off nervous energy that way, and I’m finding it helps with my outlook as well as my fitness levels. In other words, it’s a win-win.

So when the players began to arrive, I was ready for the match, in my standard touchline suit. I like black, and wear it as often as I can in some fashion when we play. Today I wore a black suit with white shirt and red tie, showing my colors in a more formal way.

I play “the game” in terms of my appearance. I don’t mind dressing up but have no plans to become a clotheshorse unless I’m forced to do so.

What I’ll never do is wear one of those initialed tracksuits that are so popular in England. I know my own name and I expect my players to know it too.

The players showed up ready to play today – so much so, in fact, that I had to remind them of their basic responsibilities and roles after the warm-up.

“Remember what has gotten you this far,” I said. “You can surely win this match if you play to your potential but be prepared for the physical side of the game. If it starts raining pitchforks and hammer handles we probably won’t be able to play much of a short game, so be ready for whatever the weather throws at us.”

I heard snickers at my use of another American euphemism – I’m finding that when I have to loosen up the players there’s nothing better than a good old-fashioned American idiom to do it – and inwardly I was satisfied.


The rain affected play from the opening kickoff. We started quite brightly and the toughest player we have was the guy who started us off.

Varricchio opened the scoring just eight minutes into the match after slogging onto a rebound from Gentile. Gotti started the play with a free kick taken just outside the right edge of the Foligno penalty area, with his shot deflecting off the wall to Gentile. His shot was parried neatly by keeper Antonio Castelli, but Varricchio was fastest to the ball and his toe-poke found the back of the net to get us off to a solid start.

I think something was in the rainwater today, as after the goal certain players on both teams seemed to join referee Riccardo Pinzani in losing their collective minds for the rest of the half.

First, Foligno’s Fillippo Petterini went into Pinzani’s book for obstructing Baú, and then Marco Parolo followed him a few minutes later for a rather hard obstruction of Pablo Paz. Gentile pulled Foligno’s Boris Paolini back by his shirt just after the half-hour to wind up on a yellow card, and then Foligno’s Valerio Zappia went in with both feet on Baú.

Not surprisingly, Eder didn’t take that well and I was up off the bench too, wondering if Pinzani would show a straight red to the Foligno player. Unfortunately, he didn’t, and that got our blood up.

He did put Foligno’s Paolini into the book two minutes after that, for a highly cynical challenge on Gentile, but then my central midfielder saw a red haze and pulled back Parolo in the center of the park to earn his second yellow moments later.

After seeing four of their players go into the book in a 25-minute span, having to play them with ten ourselves was galling. I let the fourth official have a few choice comments and, when he warned me, I stopped talking for the moment.

Referee Pinzani wasn’t done yet, and my players showed their frustration. Music tripped up Matteo Coresi just one minute after Gentile had been sent off and the referee showed him a card as well.

It was getting pretty bad, and when Baú challenged Petterini for the ball during injury time I was dismayed but not surprised to see him go into the book as well. Now I did turn to the fourth official, asking him if my players would in fact be allowed to play defense today.

“Tell them to do it with their studs down,” I was told, and I didn’t react well to that.

“You might notice that Baú’s leg is bleeding,” I said. “He’s got a bit of a problem. That sort of thing goes both ways.”

“You might notice the player was carded for it,” the fourth official replied.

“Not enough,” I said. “I’ve got to calm down an angry group of players now because you let a player that drew blood on a challenge stay on the park.”

“Then I suggest you go do it,” the official said. “You’ve work to do.”

The crowd whistled the officials off the Euganeo pitch and I had to note that we were due for this kind of officiating after the kindness they have shown us from the penalty spot already this season.

Fuming, I headed into the changing room to check on Baú, who was struggling badly and had to come off.

“All right, let me have your attention,” I said. “This is a clean sheet I really want kept. They’ve given you a physical challenge but you have to be smart about how you handle it. If we go to nine men, that will be harder to do. Let’s get calmed down and figure out how we’re going to take this game to them in the second half.”

They liked the thought of being aggressive with ten men, but for me it was a matter of simple mathematics – one card plus one card equals two.

I told Anaclerio he was going in for the crocked Baú – down to ten, I wanted two holding midfielders in the game anyway, Paz already playing the position. It would have been nice to call on Crovari in that situation, but with my captain missing due to suspension I didn’t have the luxury.

Then I realized that with this substitution I would have only one player on the pitch with a card. Gentile was gone, Baú was substituted, and that left the veteran Music as the only carded Padova player still on the pitch.

“Take the ball at Paolini,” I told the players. “Get it to the middle and let our big horse take him on.” That would be Varricchio, who was already smiling at another American euphemism from the manager.


The players were more than happy to do as they were told and just ninety seconds after the restart the ball was at Varricchio’s feet just outside the Foligno penalty area. Ever obliging, Paolini took him down, and equally as obliging, referee Pinzani showed Paolini his second yellow card.

That evened things at ten players per side, and five minutes later they picked up their sixth card when Coresi grabbed a huge handful of Music’s shirt as my midfielder passed the Foligno player on his left.

We were in firm control of the match – Foligno still hadn’t had a shot on target by this time – and a few minutes later we were two goals to the good. This time we got the goal from an unlikely source as Stefano Sacchetti rose to head home Anaclerio’s well taken corner on 59 minutes.

It was his first goal for the club. I was very pleased to see a player who has become quite popular indeed with the supporters applauding hands over head after receiving the ovation his season-long play has deserved.

From that point forward, though, I was concerned with keeping our allotment of players on the pitch.

Paz picked up a card for holding back Coresi just two minutes after Sacchetti’s goal and finally, I took off Music in favor of Mazzocco after that happened. The idea was to keep as few carded players on the pitch as possible and a few minutes later I brought Rabito on for Paz, going back to one holding midfielder with a two-goal lead and our visitors hardly threatening.

Somewhat surprisingly, despite my side picking up five cards in the match I now had no carded players on the pitch.

That made me feel better – until Rabito got kicked in his left hamstring going after a 50-50 ball just six minutes after I had brought him on.

I was wondering if we’d see a seventh card on Foligno but it was not forthcoming. To make matters worse, it was soon obvious Rabito couldn’t continue. So I had to bring him off, shifting my eight remaining outfield players into a 3-4-1 alignment with Varricchio as the lone striker.

Naturally, no sooner had Rabito reached the players’ tunnel for treatment than Anaclerio was in the book, for a ticky-tack foul on Marco Parolo. It was the twelfth card of the match, six to each team, and each team had had one player sent off.

I turned to Masolini on the bench, a look of disgust on my face.

“The cards are even. He’ll think he’s done a good job,” I said of the match official, and my assistant looked back at me with equal disdain.

“They do keep track of things like that here,” he said. And I have no doubt they do.


The coaching staffs exchanged perfunctory handshakes after the whistle went for full time and Foligno had chalked up its ninth league loss in fourteen starts. I headed to our changing room, where the players were as charged up as you might expect after a tough, physical match.

“We got through it,” I said. “We’re going to have to patch a few things together for the return against SPAL on Wednesday but I have every confidence in you. “They kicked lumps on you for ninety minutes but you held them without a single shot on target in the entire match and I’m very proud of you for that. Enjoy this win.”

With that I went to media and was asked about my side’s role in the cardfest.

“I understand when a referee needs to control the match,” I said. “My argument was with not seeing a straight red card when Baú was cut open and not seeing any card at all when Rabito had to go off through injury. When you don’t get control of the match from the beginning and then hand out eight cards in half an hour, something’s wrong someplace.”

“You get Crovari back for the Foggia match, but now Gentile is out and he has been playing well. That’s another game lost due to red-card suspension. Are you concerned about your team’s disciplinary record?”

I nodded. “I am. I’ve told the players this before and I guess I haven’t been stern enough. I’ll start taking it out of their wallets now. Getting sent off hurts the team and we need to keep our heads about us a little better. Where we want to go, you can’t lose your head and it’s up to me to make sure the players know this.”

Now we hope Monza can somehow get a result at Sassuolo tomorrow night.
Padova 2-0 Foligno

Monday, December 3
Our stay at the top of Serie C1 was short.

Yesterday, Venezia drew 1-1 at Manfredonia to create a three-way logjam at the top of the league on 29 points. Tonight, though, leaders Sassuolo unjammed things with a comprehensive 3-0 win at home to suddenly-sliding Monza.

Yes, it was comprehensive but the score was slightly flattering. I watched the match on television and the home side led only 1-0 with fifteen minutes to play before catching Monza twice on the counterattack to seal up all three points.

Right now they don’t look like they have a weakness and it’s hard to find people who would disagree. They are unbeaten in 14 league starts this season and looked every inch the best team in the league tonight.

Still, due to the peculiarities of the Italian system, we moved up a spot in the table despite not playing. In a three-way tie with Sassuolo and Venezia, we are third on common results. In a two-way tie with Venezia we are preferred to them because we haven’t played each other in the league yet and we have a superior goal difference.

Perhaps if we don’t play next week we can move up another spot!


I was wondering if the morning papers would call us Gialloscudati after yesterday’s card-fest, but instead they chose to stay positive.

The bigger story for me, though, was one I feared. We can’t come to personal terms with Silva, so the player I’d love to have is one I will not get. That isn’t surprising, but it’s still disappointing.

The highest paid player on our team is Muzzi, who makes €625,000 in a contract I’d love to restructure. He is far and away the top wage earner on our club, making fully double what anyone else here earns. He also makes nearly ten times the manager’s salary, which is part of life here as well.

I met this morning with my chairman, Marcello Sestaro, to discuss what we will do this month for players we want to tender for 2008-09. I am entering this discussion assuming that this will be my club to manage, which is a positive step.

There are players I want to bring back for next year. Muzzi is one of them, with Varricchio, Andrea Cano, Paz and Vasco Faísca being others I’d like to get extended for another year. However, I can’t do it in our existing wage structure. I am still under the total wage budget but the crowds the club has been attracting aren’t enough to sustain that budget and I know it will have to be cut soon unless more people wind up in the seats.

I’d like to try to get players renegotiated before January 1 if possible, so other clubs can’t negotiate pre-contract agreements with my key players in the last six months of their current deal. So the time to move is now, and the meeting was designed to tender offers to the players I want to bring back.

Now’s the time. The rest is up to the players and management.

Tuesday, December 4
With SPAL coming in tomorrow night for the return leg in our Serie C Cup tie, I’ve got a few concerns.

I’m missing Paponi and Donadoni to yellow card suspensions and Music is knackered. He can’t play the left side of midfield. Baú, who I ordinarily wouldn’t risk in a tie like this, may have to play.

Mazzocco, who has been spotty at best since recovering from his early season injury, is going to get to play and it’s a good thing I still have De Cristofaris on the roster because he’ll be in my XI as well.

I’m seriously thinking about terminating his loan contract because he’s just not strong enough to make it in my first eleven. Reserve football in Serie C1 is not what he needs to develop and I won’t take places away from my own u-20s to put him on that roster either.

With Donadoni out due to yellow card suspension, a regular central defender will need to play. Crovari may even have to suit up because Paz and Anaclerio both worked hard Sunday against Foligno and they are my other two holding midfielders. Sometimes having a small senior squad isn’t a lot of fun. This is one of those times.

Thankfully, we don’t have to chase the tie or else I’d have real trouble. Muzzi and Varricchio are also unlikely to feature much after playing ninety minutes on Sunday, which means Di Nardo is going to be paired with emergency striker Rabito up front tomorrow night. I plan to play Rabito off Di Nardo a bit, which will change the formation to basically a 4-1-3-1-1 but which won’t be as narrow as the numbers make it sound.

I’ll basically have five midfielders out there and I’ve been flirting with the idea of trying 4-3-3 or even 4-5-1 for this match as well. Yet, the base formation of 4-1-3-2 has yielded excellent results in this Cup run so far, so I’m loathe to switch away from it when it’s working.

Ah, the decisions I have to make!


The other concern I have is how to shift my dreams from where they shouldn’t be. Frankly, I’m getting tired of it.

The latest all started tonight when I was actually vacuuming the floor of my living room. Don’t laugh. It does happen from time to time.

While moving the machine over the floor, I nearly sucked up one of Patty’s lost bracelets, which had come off her wrist one evening and wound up under my couch. I picked it up, looked at it, and shook my head sadly.

“This is just insanity,” I said. “I wonder if I could find her somehow? I either need to get her back or forget about her completely.” I was about to chastise myself for listening to the voices in my head, before I put the bracelet down on the counter.

“Yeah, I’ll just search the United States in my spare time and find her so I can give this back,” I said, mocking my own sense of nostalgia and romance. “Like she gives a damn about me.”

I then went to sleep, and naturally dreamed of doing exactly that. I woke up in a cold sweat but more importantly, I woke up frustrated.

“I miss you, Patty, but this is killing me,” I said, pounding my mattress with both fists in frustration. “Why did I fall for you?”

I then lay back on my bed, waiting for sleep to overtake me again. It was a calculated risk.