The Tsunami Lotito

Caxi wrote:

Pandev and Ledesma may not get chopped but there's no point in extending their contracts now if a new manager comes in and doesn't see them as part of the plan.

Whether Cristian and Goran stay is in their hands, not Lotito's and if they leave, Claudio would get the blame. So why not make up excuses?

Well said or should I say ... nicely quoted (I said this 3months ago )

centrocampista wrote:

Jofo wrote:

There is no hidden message in Lotito statements. Lotito to sell Pandev and Ledesma no fucking way and you say that this is only to sell them. By thrashing them in front of the media makes the price of all smaller so its logical if you want to sell someone to make some dust around him and to point out that he is the best.

This is only to say to the squad that we shouldn't play like this without spirit NOT when we are all expecting something for the derby. And the second reason is that maybe Lotito can't live without Europe cup finances and he was counting for money before the start of the season.

I agree.

There is no hidden message.

There is only a will to justify another failed mercato and selling of star players like Pandev and Ledesma.

Lotito is a cancer eating up the Lazio body.

Selling Pandev and Ledesma?

Man, I think you should seriously consider trying to find some kind of life, because I'm starting to feel very sorry for you.

wow all I said was that that Lotito reaction is not about covering certain players sale, thx for all the understanding.

Jofo i think he was talking with Centrocampista, mostly because of earlier conversations! So dont get to upset mate

No I also was thinking about Centrocampista. He quote me and say I agree and then he talk about selling the players.

Jofo wrote:

wow all I said was that that Lotito reaction is not about covering certain players sale, thx for all the understanding.

Not talking to you, mate.

I just don't understand why on earth someone would attack Lotito for justifying something he said by 'selling Pandev and Ledesma', where in fact we have no clue what his intentions were/are, and it seems that he is actually trying hard to keep Pandev and Ledesma in Lazio. In addition, I can only say that Lotito was right by what he said. When Lazio doesn't fight and doesn't play like lions, everyone is shouting 'mercenari' and bastards and this and that - and then when Lotito says exactly the same things, he's justyfing future mistakes he's gonna make?! It doesn't have become much crazier.

Centrocampista, however much I've explained things to him in PM's, just can't seem to stop himself from attacking Lotito for every single detail that goes wrong in Lazio. If you wouldn't know any better, you'd think that the man has bullied him in school or something, because it's taking large (and worrying) proportions as far as I'm concerned.

Lucky Strike wrote:

Jofo wrote:

wow all I said was that that Lotito reaction is not about covering certain players sale, thx for all the understanding.

Not talking to you, mate.

I just don't understand why on earth someone would attack Lotito for justifying something he said by 'selling Pandev and Ledesma', where in fact we have no clue what his intentions were/are, and it seems that he is actually trying hard to keep Pandev and Ledesma in Lazio. In addition, I can only say that Lotito was right by what he said. When Lazio doesn't fight and doesn't play like lions, everyone is shouting 'mercenari' and bastards and this and that - and then when Lotito says exactly the same things, he's justyfing future mistakes he's gonna make?! It doesn't have become much crazier.

Centrocampista, however much I've explained things to him in PM's, just can't seem to stop himself from attacking Lotito for every single detail that goes wrong in Lazio. If you wouldn't know any better, you'd think that the man has bullied him in school or something, because it's taking large (and worrying) proportions as far as I'm concerned.

EVERYTHING THAT`S WRONG WITH LAZIO ATM IS LOTITOS FAULT - EVERYTHING!!

If the coaching is bad - that´s lotitios fault because he hired the coach.
If the players are bad - that´s lotitos fault because he bought /loaned the players.
If the atmosphere is bad - that´s lotitos fault because he made it so.
If the club is regressing - that´s lotitos fault because he can´t progress.

Running a huge club like Lazio takes a solid staff with alot of experience. Not one man behind a huge desk who compares himself to the son of god.

And if you have a problem with me being able to see the big picture more clearly then you well that´s not my fault is it?

Tell you what - let´s talk PM again in september about how we didn´t get paid for Ledesma or how we didn´t sign Zarate or Matuzalem or renew with Pandev.

I'm certainly not the greatest fan of Lotito. Actually I'm no fan of him at all and has not been since he started to do things that hurt the club and our history. But I don't think everything would change only by him leaving. I think we have many other issues to deal with aside from all the damage Lotito has done.

centrocampista wrote:

If the coaching is bad - that´s lotitios fault because he hired the coach.

Lotito hired a coach that took a mediocre side to the Uefa Cup (on the paper) and then Champions League. He hired a coach that proved to be the ideal solution for us in the position we were in. Rossi taking us to Champions League was a fantastic achivement - no Calciopoli can change that.

I would agree if you said Lotito waited to long with getting rid of Rossi. But what choice do he have now? We're going to sack him and promote Sesena? Or bring in Colantuono or Nando Orsi? I'm pretty sure Rossis contract won't be renewed in the summer. If Lotitos decides to renew, well then it would be another story, but I think it's not the time to critisize Lotito for a decision he has not yet made.

centrocampista wrote:

If the players are bad - that´s lotitos fault because he bought /loaned the players.

Lotito failed a lot of mercatos. But not this one. He brought in Zárate, Matuzalem, Radu, Rozehnal, Lichtsteiner and Brocchi. Those are decent players considering our financial situation. The beginning of the season showed that, and I blame Rossi for not beeing able to keep that up. I argued before the season to give Rossi a chance. Now he got that chance and no improvement has been seen - and the situation in the dressing room has according to roman media been unstable - so I'm happy to say I was wrong. I think he should leave, but getting rid of him now would not do anything better.

centrocampista wrote:

If the atmosphere is bad - that´s lotitos fault because he made it so.

Agreed. I think there are many things that contributed, but I won't argue that everything started when he disrespected Lazio's own supporters and the clubs history. But then again, also other things have contributed to the situation we're in now. Things that Lotito can't be held responsable for.

centrocampista wrote:

If the club is regressing - that´s lotitos fault because he can´t progress.

Agreed once again. But what choice do we have when there are no other candidates out there? I will never forgive Lotito for some things he did, but Lazio belongs to it's supporters, and no president can change that fact even if they try. That's what's so wonderful with this club and these colors.

I will always raise my opinion about Lotito since I feel he's trying to take away things from me that I love. But I think in a situation like this Lazio needs all support it can get. I can't blame any of you for bashing Lotito and some of you Rossi, I understand you're doing it out of love for the club, but what I don't agree with is that everything should be Lotitos or Rossis fault.

Weninho wrote:

Agreed once again. But what choice do we have when there are no other candidates out there? I will never forgive Lotito for some things he did, but Lazio belongs to it's supporters, and no president can change that fact even if they try. That's what's so wonderful with this club and these colors.

We don´t know if there are candidates out there because Lotito hasn´t put up the club for sales. What I do know is that he has screamed on a couple of occasions that he wouldn´t sell the club for less then 500mil euros. What that really means is anyones guess but I think that Lazio would get a great owner

if Lotito said "the club is for sale and I will tend to it until a buyer comes along"

I just want to draw a parallel from my work (medicine). Sometimes you can hear the expression "the surgery was a sucess but the patient died" (the expression is less common today). Since Lotito took over the patient Lazio he has done alot to kill what Lazio really is and what Cragnotti tried to create and there are no signs pointing towards change.

1. We have no real sponsor.
2. We have no long term contracts with our key players.
3. We have no unity in the squad.
4. We have no symbol on the field or off the field for that matter.
5. There is no communication with the fans.

etc etc.

What we do have is an egomaniac who puts himself in the spotlight at any given chance.

- I created Oddo.
- I built a squad for the CL.
- I spent 15mil euro on Bianchi.
- I´m gonna build a stadium (10miles outside of rome).

etc etc.

Lotito loves the attention that Lazio gives him and he was willing to pay 30mil euro to get that attention. The rest is just Lazio balancing it´s own costs. He brings players here on loan on a name which cragnotti made - that´s not very hard.

now look at the facts.

- alot of players left under bad circumstances and some of them could have been very usefull (Sereni, Liverani, Behrami etc).
- alot of players are here on loan with expensive options (Zarate, Matuzalem).
- alot of players have contracts about to expire (Ledesma, Pandev).
- alot of players are old (dabo, brocchi, siv, rocky).
- alot of players are not what we hoped for (silvestri, radu, meghni and to some extent kolarov)

what is the result? what conclusions can you draw from this?

- I can tell you one thing. If Olimpico was empty for 3 games in a row and I mean empty then Lotito would feel fear and he would have to act (and don´t say selling stars because we have no stars to sell).
-

First of all, if Lotito is genuine about this statement then why is he doing it now? We have went on worse runs through the season, maybe he sees it as a final push for UEFA but I think the timing is convenient for his decision making. He has allowed Tare to do a lot of the talking regarding performances this season, especially during the bad times so I find his fury a bit baffling.

Lotito is a great negotiator and with limited finances he can take us places:

Matuzalem was a brilliant deal. Yeah, his option is high but there is a chance we can get him for little or nothing in the summer.
Zarate's option is colossal, too much I believe and if Lotito let's him go, I will have no qualms. However, Maurito was a useful loan, wasn't he?
Pandev is a very good player, I don't believe he will ever be world class and if he stays, I'll be happy, if he goes, as long as the price is right, I don't mind.
Ledesma is key to the way Rossi organises this team, if we change coach, where does that leave him? Wise move not extending his contract as yet.
Lichtsteiner was a brilliant buy at the price we got him.
Behrami has guts but is not a brilliant player, we sold him for a great price.

In my opinion, Lotito has bought well and made the right choices, especially if Rossi goes at the end of the season. Can't see how we can criticise that but each to his or her own opinions.

Selling the club to a mutli-millionaire would be a disaster. Not going to compare us to specific clubs elsewhere but with Cragnotti, we were the first team to suffer what many others will. Lotito may not have financial muscle, but his head is screwed on.

What Claudio has done with regards to the tifosi is inexcusable but if he is successful, how many will he win over? The majority of them I reckon.

Weninho is spot on, we shouldn't criticise Lotito for decisions he has yet to make. However, I do feel he may have alterior motives and that his comments may be a hint of what is to come. I expect wholesale changes next season, a "new" Lazio and Rossi leaving is key to that. However, if Rossi stays, he won't alter things too much.

Right now we are experiencing a period of instability and Claudio's comments were unstabling but we can't do much to change our predicament until the end of the season so let's sit tight, wait, and see what happens in the summer.

Caxi wrote:

Lotito is a great negotiator and with limited finances he can take us places:

Matuzalem was a brilliant deal. Yeah, his option is high but there is a chance we can get him for little or nothing in the summer.

How come we can get him for little or nothing ni the summer? his buy-out clause is 13mil euros-

Caxi wrote:

Zarate's option is colossal, too much I believe and if Lotito let's him go, I will have no qualms. However, Maurito was a useful loan, wasn't he?

I don´t know? was it? Zarate took the place of another player (X) and was exposed to the world. We can´t affoard giving players experience and then letting them go for free - that´s bad business not to mention bad for the long-term sucess of the club.

Caxi wrote:

Pandev is a very good player, I don't believe he will ever be world class and if he stays, I'll be happy, if he goes, as long as the price is right, I don't mind.

Pandev has a year left on his contract and will leave as a Bosman /reduced price.

Caxi wrote:

Lichtsteiner was a brilliant buy at the price we got him.

You are right. Licht has had a fantastic season and I´m sure his value has increased to around 5 - 6mil euro (from 300 000 euro).

Caxi wrote:

Behrami has guts but is not a brilliant player, we sold him for a great price.

Behrami is currently doing great in the PL (ok injured right now but still doing great) and we did NOT SELL HIM AT A GREAT PRICE. Behrami used art 17 and was sold for about the same amount as he cost (something in the region of 5,5mil euro).

Caxi wrote:

Selling the club to a mutli-millionaire would be a disaster. Lotito may not have financial muscle, but his head is screwed on.

I´m not buying that stuff!! just because you are a multi-millionaire you are irresponsible? Lotito is going to jail for 2years you know - his head is screwed on because his brain was abducted by aliens.

Caxi wrote:

Weninho is spot on, we shouldn't criticise Lotito for decisions he has yet to make. However, I do feel he may have alterior motives and that his comments may be a hint of what is to come. I expect wholesale changes next season, a "new" Lazio and Rossi leaving is key to that. However, if Rossi stays, he won't alter things too much.

Why can´t we judge a person on the basis of what he has done? I mean that´s being done daily for instance when you go to a job interview - they judge you on what you did not what you are going to do. Remember Lotito had a huge possibility when we reached the CL - how did he perform? what makes you think he would act differently the next time?

centrocampista wrote:

Caxi wrote:

Lotito is a great negotiator and with limited finances he can take us places:

Matuzalem was a brilliant deal. Yeah, his option is high but there is a chance we can get him for little or nothing in the summer.

How come we can get him for little or nothing ni the summer? his buy-out clause is 13mil euros-

Caxi wrote:

Zarate's option is colossal, too much I believe and if Lotito let's him go, I will have no qualms. However, Maurito was a useful loan, wasn't he?

I don´t know? was it? Zarate took the place of another player (X) and was exposed to the world. We can´t affoard giving players experience and then letting them go for free - that´s bad business not to mention bad for the long-term sucess of the club.

Caxi wrote:

Pandev is a very good player, I don't believe he will ever be world class and if he stays, I'll be happy, if he goes, as long as the price is right, I don't mind.

Pandev has a year left on his contract and will leave as a Bosman /reduced price.

Caxi wrote:

Lichtsteiner was a brilliant buy at the price we got him.

You are right. Licht has had a fantastic season and I´m sure his value has increased to around 5 - 6mil euro (from 300 000 euro).

Caxi wrote:

Behrami has guts but is not a brilliant player, we sold him for a great price.

Behrami is currently doing great in the PL (ok injured right now but still doing great) and we did NOT SELL HIM AT A GREAT PRICE. Behrami used art 17 and was sold for about the same amount as he cost (something in the region of 5,5mil euro).

Caxi wrote:

Selling the club to a mutli-millionaire would be a disaster. Lotito may not have financial muscle, but his head is screwed on.

I´m not buying that stuff!! just because you are a multi-millionaire you are irresponsible? Lotito is going to jail for 2years you know - his head is screwed on because his brain was abducted by aliens.

Caxi wrote:

Weninho is spot on, we shouldn't criticise Lotito for decisions he has yet to make. However, I do feel he may have alterior motives and that his comments may be a hint of what is to come. I expect wholesale changes next season, a "new" Lazio and Rossi leaving is key to that. However, if Rossi stays, he won't alter things too much.

Why can´t we judge a person on the basis of what he has done? I mean that´s being done daily for instance when you go to a job interview - they judge you on what you did not what you are going to do. Remember Lotito had a huge possibility when we reached the CL - how did he perform? what makes you think he would act differently the next time?

Matuzalem's buy-out clause is high but do you really think Real Zaragoza can keep him beyond this season? If they're not promoted, they can't afford him and besides, even if they do get promoted, he probably doesn't want to go back and he has apparently stated his interest in remaining here, so if we want him enough and he wants us enough, Zaragoza have to let him go, whatever the price.

Zarate has grabbed the goals to get us points. No point in delving into the what, ifs and maybes. Zarate got us goals, grabbed many an assist and has fired us up the table. We have to think about where we're going short-term as well as long-term and table positions means more than spending gazillions on a player and trying to make a profit. That's for teams like Udinese, not us and it normally fails anyway.

Just because Pandev can go on a Bosman-type deal doesn't mean he will. Behrami could have went cheaper than the circa 6mil he went for. He didn't. Which brings me onto your next point. Behrami had 4-5 good games in England and ended up injured for the season. Doesn't look a good buy for West Ham thus far. And also, you claim we sold him at the price we got him at but he could have left cheaper, so that kind of re-illustrates your point of buying players and selling them for a profit. Rarely works.

We both agree on Lichtsteiner so no point addressing that.

You're not "buying" (nice pun) the multi-millionaire point I make out. Well, Cragnotti spent lavishly and almost destroyed the club. Lotito is no saint but neither was Cragnotti. Now what happens if a multi-billionaire takes over Lazio and dies or decides to transfer debt onto us to fund his own lifestyle or gets bored and decides to pull out having transferred his debt onto us? Lazio ceases to exist, that's what. Unless some other billionaire with the same idea does the same thing and then we have a vicious cycle.

No point in "judging" someone we can't get rid of. Football is a business, that what makes Lotito excel in some aspects but it is also a sport. You don't judge people day-to-day, you do analyse their performance and compile it together over the course of the season, just like you evaluate an employee in a work place. You're in medicine, not a good example, if you mess up, you put someone's life in danger and even then, you probably get away with it. Most jobs are not comparable to yours.

We should be able to get matuzalem for a reduced fee or free if Zaragoza don't get promoted. Once the buy out clause has expired we can offer them what we want and they will be likely to take it because they can't afford his wages and he won't want to play in the Spanish first division.

If we lose Zarate i'll be gutted but it was still a great deal to have him for a year anyway. His goals have been so helpful this season, who knows, without them we could be in a relegation fight.

Behrami has been ok in the Premiership, I think Licht is by far better than him so any money we recieved for Behrami more than Licht's transfer fee is good business.

If we decide to sell Pandev in the summer, which I think would be incredibly stupid, we would still get top dollar for him. He can't leave on a Bosman until his contract expires which means he can't negotiate with any other club until January 2010.

All in all, if we keep Pandev and Zarate and change coach I think we will have all the material to have an exciting season. Guess we won't know until 31st August where we stand.

I also would be gutted to see Zarate go. Lets be fair its his first season in Serie A, the likelihood is that he will get better and better. Fair point on Behrami, we could have got far less for him and in the mean time we picked up Lich who was far cheaper and in my view has had an excellent season. Thats good business, and his transfer fee would be far higher now, not that we should sell him of course. Credit to the club there. I have to say im getting slightly worried that the Zarate deal, pandev and ledesma extensions are dragging on and on.

Fair point on the billionaire situation. We dont really want an owner who will just sell up when his interest dries up and leaves us with nothing except a masive unwanted debt, somthing that Chelsea fans may have to embrace somwhen. Stability and growth will lead us to better things in the long term, instead of a boom or bust club.

centrocampista wrote:

Weninho wrote:

Agreed once again. But what choice do we have when there are no other candidates out there? I will never forgive Lotito for some things he did, but Lazio belongs to it's supporters, and no president can change that fact even if they try. That's what's so wonderful with this club and these colors.

We don´t know if there are candidates out there because Lotito hasn´t put up the club for sales. What I do know is that he has screamed on a couple of occasions that he wouldn´t sell the club for less then 500mil euros. What that really means is anyones guess but I think that Lazio would get a great owner

if Lotito said "the club is for sale and I will tend to it until a buyer comes along"

I just want to draw a parallel from my work (medicine). Sometimes you can hear the expression "the surgery was a sucess but the patient died" (the expression is less common today). Since Lotito took over the patient Lazio he has done alot to kill what Lazio really is and what Cragnotti tried to create and there are no signs pointing towards change.

1. We have no real sponsor.
2. We have no long term contracts with our key players.
3. We have no unity in the squad.
4. We have no symbol on the field or off the field for that matter.
5. There is no communication with the fans.

etc etc.

What we do have is an egomaniac who puts himself in the spotlight at any given chance.

- I created Oddo.
- I built a squad for the CL.
- I spent 15mil euro on Bianchi.
- I´m gonna build a stadium (10miles outside of rome).

etc etc.

Lotito loves the attention that Lazio gives him and he was willing to pay 30mil euro to get that attention. The rest is just Lazio balancing it´s own costs. He brings players here on loan on a name which cragnotti made - that´s not very hard.

now look at the facts.

- alot of players left under bad circumstances and some of them could have been very usefull (Sereni, Liverani, Behrami etc).
- alot of players are here on loan with expensive options (Zarate, Matuzalem).
- alot of players have contracts about to expire (Ledesma, Pandev).
- alot of players are old (dabo, brocchi, siv, rocky).
- alot of players are not what we hoped for (silvestri, radu, meghni and to some extent kolarov)

what is the result? what conclusions can you draw from this?

- I can tell you one thing. If Olimpico was empty for 3 games in a row and I mean empty then Lotito would feel fear and he would have to act (and don´t say selling stars because we have no stars to sell).
-

Centro, you don't have to list the errors of Lotito trying to convince me. I'm on your side regarding him and I agree in many ways with your thoughts above. Both of us already know he's not good for Lazio and that he's doing the club a lot of harm. I won't argue with any of the facts you listed expect from Liverani, who is a romanista with no place in Lazio.

I'm not defending Lotito in any way. I would never do that.

I'm just saying that him and Rossi sometimes get's to much critics. And I think that's dangerous, because I feel it's the same as ignoring some other big issues that we're fighting against right now.

I agree with you that Cragnotti did a lot of good things with Lazio. He is a legend and a man that I will always respect and show gratitude. But speaking of facts - he left us with a debt of more than €60 million that later, after his resignation, turned into well over a billion.

As Caxi also mentioned you can't ignore those figures, no matter how much you respect this man and everything he did for Lazio.

Lotito has yet a huge dept to pay to the Roman Tax Agenzy and just got rid of the Baraldi-plan. There is no way he would sell the club now after going through all that.

Like you, I would be delighted if he resigned. But what I don't agree with is that he will reconsider just because the stadium is empty. He is way to stubborn for that, and in that case I think he would rather see Lazio going bancrupt then selling the club to anyone else.

The worst thing that can happen to Lazio right now is going into serie B or dropping in quality. In that case I would be really worried for the future of the club, and this is where I don't care if Lotito is president or not. It's still our club and colors. And SS Lazio will always be something else then Claudio Lotito.

Just to mention a few facts:

1. Behrami tore his knee crucial ligaments, and is out for 6 months. Plus Licht is on the best way of becoming a better player than Valon would ever be.

2. Pandev is a world class player. And his influence on us is I believe immeasurable. Over 40 goals over the years have certainly helped us stay afloat. I seriously hope Goran stays.

3. Zarate's loan was the best thing that happened to Lazio im ages. 11 goals from a player that cost us only a years salary - fantastic.

4. Zaragoza going down or not, Matuzalem is a liability. He's frail, small and skinny. A recipe for disaster I believe.

5. Most people here dwell on "what could have been if this or that", or "what will happen if this or that".
Like Sereni could have been useful? For what? Being a waterboy? It's easy to be smart now that he's playing well but during his spell with us he sucked tremendously, remember that. Liverani was discontent, behrami wanted to go.

Sile wrote:

Just to mention a few facts:

1. Behrami tore his knee crucial ligaments, and is out for 6 months. Plus Licht is on the best way of becoming a better player than Valon would ever be.

2. Pandev is a world class player. And his influence on us is I believe immeasurable. Over 40 goals over the years have certainly helped us stay afloat. I seriously hope Goran stays.

3. Zarate's loan was the best thing that happened to Lazio im ages. 11 goals from a player that cost us only a years salary - fantastic.

4. Zaragoza going down or not, Matuzalem is a liability. He's frail, small and skinny. A recipe for disaster I believe.

5. Most people here dwell on "what could have been if this or that", or "what will happen if this or that".
Like Sereni could have been useful? For what? Being a waterboy? It's easy to be smart now that he's playing well but during his spell with us he sucked tremendously, remember that. Liverani was discontent, behrami wanted to go.

It´s cool to see that you where able to use your own conclusion against yourself in one post

Now I wonder if you are smart enough to figure out what I mean.

Ps. Zarate did alot of good for Lazio but compare that to what Sampdoria has done with Cassano and Pazzini and you will see my point and never again use our loan of Zarate as an argument.

It's pretty easy to get tangled in the game of visionairism and prediction, sure.
What if?? seems to be the question we use most of our efforts trying to answer.

It doesn not seem fair to compare Cassano and Pazzini to Mauro since they both had more time to adapt to serie A. We took an anonymous player and in weeks he turned out to be what he turned out to be. If your point is the Cassano current form try and remember his not so glory days around Europe, he might have been a gamble but Samp had nothing to lose really. Pazzini has been playing in Italy for years in mid-table teams so there can really be no comparison between an argie youngster from Al-Sadd with players that have so far played for Fiorentina, Atalanta, Sampdoria, Merda and Real Madrid, plus the Italy NT.

centrocampista wrote:

1. We have no real sponsor.
2. We have no long term contracts with our key players.
3. We have no unity in the squad.
4. We have no symbol on the field or off the field for that matter.
5. There is no communication with the fans.

Agreed with all of this but about the players I will support Sile's thought.

Sile wrote:

It's pretty easy to get tangled in the game of visionairism and prediction, sure.
What if?? seems to be the question we use most of our efforts trying to answer.

It doesn not seem fair to compare Cassano and Pazzini to Mauro since they both had more time to adapt to serie A. We took an anonymous player and in weeks he turned out to be what he turned out to be. If your point is the Cassano current form try and remember his not so glory days around Europe, he might have been a gamble but Samp had nothing to lose really. Pazzini has been playing in Italy for years in mid-table teams so there can really be no comparison between an argie youngster from Al-Sadd with players that have so far played for Fiorentina, Atalanta, Sampdoria, Merda and Real Madrid, plus the Italy NT.

The first point you got :)

The second point is that buying players is much better then loaning them. If Lotito can´t pay the buy-out clause for Zarate then Lazio will have increased his value for a different club - how is that smart business?

And about Cassano - a player who has played for Roma, Real and been a NT-star at his age was a bargain at Reals asking price (and I remember Lotito laughing when he was offered to buy the player by the agent).

But how is it our concern how much will someone else pay Al-Sadd for Zarate if we choose not to buy him for whichever reason? We have a fixed buy-out clause and whether Zarate plays like shite or he plays extraordinary the price is set. If Lazio honors the clause, buys Zarate then come summer sells him for i.e. 20 mill then it's 5 million profit + 11 goals so far have been for free. That is great business, but again, that is a game of "What if"

As for Cassano, his price money wise may have been a bargain, but any money that has to be paid in full at once, especially if it is an ex-romanista with a temper-issue and a tendency to over-eat, is money that I say we don't have / you say Lotito is to cheap of a bastard to pay.

centrocampista wrote:

Sile wrote:

It's pretty easy to get tangled in the game of visionairism and prediction, sure.
What if?? seems to be the question we use most of our efforts trying to answer.

It doesn not seem fair to compare Cassano and Pazzini to Mauro since they both had more time to adapt to serie A. We took an anonymous player and in weeks he turned out to be what he turned out to be. If your point is the Cassano current form try and remember his not so glory days around Europe, he might have been a gamble but Samp had nothing to lose really. Pazzini has been playing in Italy for years in mid-table teams so there can really be no comparison between an argie youngster from Al-Sadd with players that have so far played for Fiorentina, Atalanta, Sampdoria, Merda and Real Madrid, plus the Italy NT.

The first point you got :)

The second point is that buying players is much better then loaning them. If Lotito can´t pay the buy-out clause for Zarate then Lazio will have increased his value for a different club - how is that smart business?

And about Cassano - a player who has played for Roma, Real and been a NT-star at his age was a bargain at Reals asking price (and I remember Lotito laughing when he was offered to buy the player by the agent).

Why are you so against loan deals? I think they are a great idea in many cases, saves us from another Mendieta or Sorin etc. It's like an insurance 'Try before you buy' deal. If we just had loan deals which simply 'loans' then I would agree but we have the option to buy our loan players so I can't see what the problem is.

goal.com :

Lotito Demands That Lazio Players Respect The Club & Fans
The president has launched his second attack on the Biancocelesti players in a matter of days, this time questioning their respect.

26 Mar 2009 23:50:00

Lazio continued their inconsistent season last weekend, as they were defeated 1-0 by Catania in Sicily.

The president of the club, Claudio Lotito, was enraged with the outcome, and following the match, he launched a scathing attack on his players, by questioning their attitude and commitment to the team.

A few days later, and he is at it again, as he has declared that his players must respect the club, and all of the people involved, including the fans.

“I hope that the players have realised that the coaches, the fans and I, all deserve respect,” Lotito was quoted by saying, according to Ansa.it.

“I have already warned the team that is they do not react soon, then extreme measures will be taken.

“Even if the results don’t come, the attitude and respect of the players must improve.”

Lazio’s next task in the league is a trip to Tuscany, where they will face Siena at the Artemio Franchi stadium after the international break.

As I said before it's little too late.
SO this is not a hidden message as someone point out, no theory of conspiracy. Lotito only wants to get things movin before the derby because if we lose the derby and not qualify for Uefa then Lazio failed all expectations and the pressure over Lotito will be huge. The derby is too important to play like Lazio is playing last 2-3 games and that must be clear.

I'm pretty sure that Lotito will change Rossi and bring new coach, I've never seen before he react like this.

Anybody know how accurate this translation is? The word "respect" seems central to the point being made but he is asking for the coaches to be respected. A sign of dressing room trouble perhaps?