It won’t come as much of a surprise to hear that Jose Mourinho will be dragged up in front of the disciplinary commission to explain his comments following last weekend’s Derby della Madonnina. The Portuguese coach was incensed by a number of controversial refereeing decisions, spearheaded by the bizarre red card to Wesley Sneijder for sarcastically clapping the whistleblower. In his interviews with Italian TV, Mourinho openly professed, “I have already understood they won't let us seal up the Scudetto.” ‘They’ want a chat.
Sitting alongside the special one in the HQ naughty chairs will be Nerazzurri General Manager Ernesto Paolilo, after he delivered his none too conspicuous view that “they want to re-open a title race by not recognising the superiority of a team and they want to do it in a none-too-legal way.” A hefty fine can be expected for each with Mourinho possibly incurring a touchline ban as well. The disciplinary commission have brought the charges about as Mourinho and Paolilo’s actions ‘aimed to damage, directly or indirectly, the prestige and credibility of the Federal Institutions, casting shadows of doubt over the regularity of the tournament.’ Perish the thought.
Although it’s easy to pay little attention to Mourinho’s diatribes made in the heat of the moment, the disciplinary commission must be conscious to stamp down on any suggestions of foul play. We must remember that this is the department embroiled in the Calciopoli scandal, and one which is eager to portray a new light. Such accusations won’t sit lightly amongst an organisation still trying to rebuild its reputation, and it’s likely Mourinho will bear the brunt of their dissatisfaction.
As yet, no summons has been issued to Marco Materazzi for his stunt with the Silvio Berlusconi mask. The Matrix has passed it off as harmless banter, saying, “It was just a derby prank, nothing more. There was no intention to cause any trouble or to offend, and there was no political intention.” It makes you think that Materazzi must have caught back episodes of Spitting Image during his spell with Everton.
Ahead of tonight’s Coppa Italia quarter-final meeting with Juventus, Mourinho did have some consoling words for stricken Bianconeri boss Ciro Ferrara. Mourinho has been far from immune to criticism since his arrival on the peninsula and claims, “In Italy a Coach who starts the season on the bench and finishes it there is not a Coach, but a hero.” Unfortunately for Ferrara the sympathy stopped with words as il Biscione dumped Juve out of the competition thanks to another late rally. Diego had put the visitors ahead only for Lucio to equalise (72) before Mario Balotelli pounced late to set up a semi with Fiorentina. Ironically Juventus fans were banned from attending the match at the San Siro as a punishment for their continued racial abuse of Balotelli, who took great pleasure in piling further misery on the fallen Turin giants.
The Nerazzurri are now well placed for a domestic double, but must maintain a safe distance from Milan in the league. The Derby result ended one of those mini-slumps which Inter fall into, and restored the lead to nine points over their great rivals. Next up is a visit to the Ennio Tardini to face Parma. Although the talismanic Sneijder is suspended, la Benemeata should have more than enough to deposit a Ducali who have collected just one point from 15. The serpenti have formed a nasty habit, possibly borne out of complacency, of dropping unnecessary points in fixtures they should be dominating. If inter are to make any headway in Europe this season, Mourinho may opt to shuffle his pack either side of the Champions League games. If so, it will be important for the il Biscione to maintain a comfortable buffer between themselves and their pursuers to enable the Special One to comfortably rotate in the league schedule. Errors in games like this weekend’s can prove farer reaching than just Serie A. Revitalised after taking care of the Rossoneri, Inter now need to show that efficiency and consistency of champions.
With just a couple of days of the transfer window left, the transfer of Cristian Ledesma from Lazio looks to be dead after the league’s arbitration panel decided not to rescind the players contract. The Argentinean midfielder must now sit out the rest of his contract in Rome, with the champions reticent to meet Lazio’s 15m Euro valuation. Marco Branca had indicated there was ‘another player’ in the cross-hairs, with initial speculation that the player was Sporting Lisbon’s Portuguese schemer Miguel Veloso, however, late on Thursday evening reports surfaced that the club had just struck a deal with Valencia over the acquisition of Manuel Fernandes,
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