Todays fitba

[manc_don]

That will do very nicely. A bloodbath in the second leg please

 

This works in our favour. 3-3 draw means they will go for it in the second leg!

 

[tlg1903]

Exactly, I cheered when they equalised

[BigAl]

Exactly, I cheered when they equalised

 

Get your drift, but just couldn't bring myself to do that !

[Tyrant]

Get your drift, but just couldn't bring myself to do that !

 

 

It is not possible for me to be happy when Celtic score or get a positive result. I just can't do it.

[Tyrant]

Dutch fans in hooliganism shocker. 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31544844

[manc_don]

Dutch fans in hooliganism shocker. 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31544844

 

Typical Feyenoord pricks.

[Jute]

Typical Feyenoord pricks.

 

Whilst Feyenoord undoubtedly are cunts Roma are bigger cunts and will not have been an innocent party in this.

[manc_don]

Whilst Feyenoord undoubtedly are cunts Roma are bigger cunts and will not have been an innocent party in this.

 

Without doubt, but I'll never miss an opportunity to slate those pricks 

[tom_widdows]

At the risk of tempting fate it seems the annual Arabs mid season collapse has arrived.

Were Armstrong and Mackay-stevens carrying them?

 

Also County dragging themselves off the bottom of the table unless Motherwell or Partick can find a goal or 2.

 

Motherwell currently 29 points worse off than this time last season.

[tom_widdows]

Hamilton Accies seem to have borrowed Inter Milan's Kit

[Nellie The Don]

Hamilton Accies seem to have borrowed Inter Milan's Kit

Shame that was the only similarity.

[manc_don]

Shame that was the only similarity.

 

They are well and truly struggling now. Other results all went our way yesterday.

[Superstar Tradesman]

The Arabs play the Tims three times in March.

 

We actually need them to come onto a bit of a game if they're going to be of any help to us.

[tom_widdows]

Parma about to go Tits up?

 

In the late 1980s, Parma was best known for producing thin-sliced prosciutto ham and hard, dusty cheese you sprinkle on bolognese.

But over the next decade, Italy international Gianfranco Zola and South American stars Faustino Asprilla and Hernan Crespo helped ensure the Italian city became synonymous with football as well as food.

In three months' time, the club will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its maiden Uefa Cup success.  In three months' time, it might just be extinct.

Last weekend's home game against Udinese was called off because cash-strapped Parma officials could not afford to pay for stewards.

The club's players have not been paid all season and there is not even hot water for a post-training shower.

"Time is running out," warned Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli.

 

What has gone wrong?

 

Parma finished sixth in Serie A last season, under the guidance of former Italy midfielder Roberto Donadoni, to secure European qualification for the first time since 2007.

But they were prevented from competing in the Europa League for not meeting Uefa's club licensing criteria because of unpaid bills.

Ownership of the club has twice changed hands in the past two months, and current president Giampietro Manenti had claimed he was confident of sorting out the problems.

Then came Sunday's postponement, while players and staff continue to go without their salaries.

"It's an untenable situation, there's no credibility," said Parma mayor Federico Pizzarotti. "Either they pay the wages or they allow somebody else to take over."

 

How bad is the situation?

 

Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki believes Parma are "very close" to going out of business.

The club's latest financial results show they have a gross debt of 197.4m euros (£145m) and the Italian authorities have set a bankruptcy hearing for 19 March.

"Right now everyone is pointing the finger at everyone," Rzouki told BBC's World Service. "But if we look at the root of the problem, how it started and how it developed, one cannot overlook former owner Tommaso Ghirardi.

"Ghirardi took over in 2007 when there was a gross debt of 16.1m (£11.8m). Seven years on, Parma have a gross debt figure of 197.4m euros. Take away outstanding credit, it has a net debt of 97m (£71.2m).

"Between the summer of 2013 and the summer of 2014, Parma took part in over 450 player transactions - purchases, loans, co-ownerships and sales. How can he not be the man to blame?"

Ghirardi sold the club to Dastraso Holdings, a Cyprus-based conglomerate, in December, before Slovenian-based group Mapi - led by Manenti - took control earlier this month.

What do the players think?

 

Parma's players are prepared to pay for their transport to Sunday's Serie A match at Genoa if the club cannot afford a bus, says Lucarelli.

"It's like being in a film. We've seen everything you could possibly imagine, with four different presidents this season," adds the 37-year-old centre-back.

"When we didn't play on Sunday, it left me with a bad feeling.

"If there isn't a bus to go to Genoa we'll get five or six cars together and travel in them. We're prepared to pay for the trip ourselves."

Former Argentina striker Crespo - now the club's youth-team coach - recently told the Italian media  players had to have cold showers after training because the club could not afford to pay for hot water.

How have fans reacted?

 

Exactly as you would imagine. Angrily, vocally and en masse.

About 1,000 fans turned up at the Stadio Ennio Tardini on Sunday, when their heroes should have been playing Udinese, to protest about the chaotic situation.

Supporters posted signs which read 'Closed for robbery' on the stadium gates as they gathered for a peaceful protest ahead of the scheduled kick-off time.

And other Serie A clubs?

 

Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero believes the other Italian top-flight clubs should help Parma finish the season.

"Italian football cannot remain indifferent to the serenity, the professionalism and the maturity with which the Parma players have faced an extremely difficult situation," he said.

"I congratulate the players and all the people who work at Parma - I consider them to be heroes."

Parma tweet

 

Is there a saviour in sight?

 

Parma have two possibilities of avoiding liquidation and surviving until the end of the season, believes Milan-based journalist Luca Ferrato.

One possibility is they will be handed a loan, believed to be about 5m euros (£3.7m), from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Serie A to cover their outgoings until May.

Alternatively, the city's mayor has indicated the local authority could provide financial assistance until the summer.

"Pizzarotti is looking for local investors to buy the club in the summer. He has lost patience with Giampietro Manenti and has asked local businessmen to buy the club," Ferrato told BBC Sport.

Just how good were Parma at their peak?

 

Parma's footballing reputation was virtually non-existent outside of Italy until they won four European trophies in the 1990s to become a name feared across the continent.

The small club from the Emilia-Romagna region had scratched around in the lower leagues until Calisto Tanzi - founder of the Parmalat food and dairy firm - started pumping money into his hometown club.

That led to promotion to Serie A for the first time in 1990 - and silverware quickly followed. Parma won three Italian Cups, one Italian Super Cup, two Uefa Cups, one European Super Cup and one Cup Winners' Cup, also finishing as Serie A runners-up on two occasions.

But darker days were around the corner. Following the collapse of Parmalat in Europe's biggest bankruptcy - Tanzi was later given an 18-month jail term for fraud - the club was declared insolvent in 2004.

Eleven years later, they again face an uncertain future.

[manc_don]

Read that last night, I find it very hard to sympathise with Italian football.  I know it's always the fans that suffer but surely the writing was on the wall years ago?  Could some form of action not have been taken earlier?

 

Have to say, fair play to the players though, although it's what I'd expect to see, expecting and reality are two very different things.  They deserve the support of the rest of Serie A.

[Kowalski]

Man City v Barcelona.

Mark Pougatch is already a helluva lot more inoffensive than Adrian Chiles.

[manc_don]

Man City v Barcelona.

Mark Pougatch is already a helluva lot more inoffensive than Adrian Chiles.

 

I was very disappointed he left 5live.

[mizer]

Arabs currently 1 doon and doon to 10 men.

 

 

[BigAl]

Would rather Arabs v ICT finish as a draw.

[mizer]

City back to 2-1 missed it as Caley are trying to fuck up at Tannadice.

[mizer]

1-1 at Tannadice, was coming.

 

Table

 

[manc_don]

Think that was probably the best outcome. Keeps caley at bay and fucks the Arabs up

[BigAl]

Dick dismissed in Milan

Still nothing each though

Hopefully the extra man counts and Milan have them chasing shadows in the second half 

[manc_don]

Dick dismissed in Milan

Still nothing each though

Hopefully the extra man counts and Milan have them chasing shadows in the second half 

 

As TC said, we need them to go through. It's a shame it wasn't someone useless that go sent off as it keeps vD fit and injury free for sunday 

[topcorner]

Danger is Inter win the game in the next 10 mins and Sellick start resting up some key players.