Roma-Cagliari and the Pink Mafia

By: Jeremy | December 12th, 2008

Things are calm in Cagliari and this blog as we approach the big game with an in form Roma this weekend. As my man Poindexter pointed out in the comments section of the last post, while my post was mediocre, as most of them are, the amount of comments posted made me look twice to make sure I was reading the Cagliari blog and wasnt reading a blog filled with insults about others teams like so many others seem to be. But alas, it was really just whining by some Palermo supporters who still cant get over that their provincial club lost a game on a real island and sits in mid table where they rightfully belong and are probably lucky to be consdering their inconsistency, the craziness of their owner, and their inability to keep their players.

Speaking of mediocrity, it amazes me that a team who has only had its name for the past twenty years or so after a history of financial problems and whose only championship in an Italian Soccer League has a B or C2 after its name, tries to put itself on a pedastal thinking its got more prestige then other provincial clubs because they have made the UEFA Cup three years in a row. Would you trade those UEFA Cup appearances for a Scudetto at any point in your name changing, fascist cowering, financially mismanaged history? Im betting the life of Gigi Riva that you would. How many teams have won more Scudettos then we have in the history of Italian football? 11-12 maybe? That one Scudetto we got in 1970 makes the score 1-0 over Palermo. The same score as last weeks game. But its Palermo who is the provincial club that wears pink and calls Cagliari a bunch of homos and tries to compare themselves to and insult the big clubs like they are on par with them while their own good players leave for more money that they cant afford to pay and for prestige they cant provide? The insults hurled at Cagliari by Palermo sure make sense to me. Sorry your season is frustrating, but part of the process is accepting what you are.

My point is that Cagliari and its fans are pretty comfortable in their own skin. We know who we are and that expectations take time to build, especially in todays game. We know Sardinia is a top notch island and will always be above Sicily. We dont need to insult others to give the false impression we are something we are not. Our history is what it is and most clubs would love to have it. If a Roma or a Juve or Milan fan wants to come insult us, good for them, but there isnt much to say and we wont try to compare ourselves to them. I usually dont get into wars of words with teams that are clearly better then we are, but I can and will respond to words from Palermo who has no room to insult anyone. Childish comments and expectations cant go without response as they are the epitome of hypocrisy. Enough said about our island rivals and lets move on to this weekend.

We head into Roma to take on a team that while on par with us on points, is poised to move up the standings. They look to continue their streak against us this weekend. Normally we are an easy ass whipping for them and last years game in Roma made me want to puke at how poorly we played. However, Roma comes in without Acquilani, their fine midfielder, and did play a game this week against Bordeax so maybe they will be tired. Realistically I doubt it. I like watching Roma just to see Totti.

Cagliari comes in relaxed and pretty happy but with a desire to give Roma a match other then just a walkover game. After the bad start, we now find Allegri with a contract extension and an owner standing up for his club in a war of words with his friend but dellusional idol. Good for you Massimo. Sometimes it is good to hear you speak. With surprising wins over some good teams in a not so convincing and often lucky manner, we are also actually going into a game where a win could push us into real UEFA Cup contention. Surprises in these last four games of the first half might cause our own boss to spend some money.

To think we can get points in this game is pretty unrealistic. Roma is hungry, at home, and does not lose games like this. We will see this as a test for our momentum but also a likely reality check for our talent level. Despite our position in the standings, the focus is still survival. Roma has a way of breaking down teams with less talent with precision ball control, some early kicks on goal, and then a quick strike or two about halfway through the game. Lets hope Biondini is back and ready to do some running. We need our midfield to be at its best to have a slight chance.

As others have pointed out, while it may be tempting to buy some help in the winter, do we have the money and is the available talent that can make a difference willing to come to Cagliari. These next four games may change my mind, but ultimately we must look to the summer to spend some real money to keep us competitive when we lose Acquafresca and most of the other teams improve. A bad start is not so easy to recover from.

While optimistic as always, I dont see us happy with the weekends result. Either way its already been a successful week because the Palermo fans have finally lost it.

Prediction

Roma 2-0 Cagliari