Old and New News
•The most important news of the week is that Monty might be dating a Playmate! Yes, that's right -- now that Pazzo's gone, he's moved on to the showgirl set, like a proper footballer. (Here are some properly tarty, NSFW, depressing pictures of her, for your research purposes.) They've been seen out and about together a lot and, while neither of them has confirmed anything, she's definitely not working very hard to deny it, either. (In less important news, Lippi has rubbished any suggestions that he's planning to drop Monty from the NT -- he says he's been in every team he's called since he took over, and he'll remain there.)
•Now that he's discovered no one will ever let him take a penalty kick, Gila's new goal is to score 20 goals in the league without a single PK. That's only four more in twice as many remaining matches -- go, Gila!
•Melo just got done in the press room, where he again denied the reports out of Brazil that he's looking to leave, and in fact claimed that they've already started talking with Corvino about an extension. (I dunno if I believe that, but it's certainly a nice thought.)
•Yesterday was a big day for Corvino: He got a granddaughter, and also announced that Fiorentina have signed a player, but he won't say who, apart from that it's not Zapata, or anyone else we've heard talk about. (Here's the full interview -- it includes discussion of Jojo, Pazzo, Ujfi, Vargas, and Liverani, among others.) Last year, the random early signing no one knew anything about was Melo, wasn't it? We can only hope this new mystery man works out so well.
•In other transfer news, last week it emerged that Fiorentina were allegedly very interested in Atletico Madrid midfielder Maxi Rodriguez. So interested, in fact, that despite his high price tag, they supposedly even put in an €18 million bid for him, only to have it rejected. (No idea if any of that's true.) Closer to home, there's Luca Cigarini, another midfielder who says he is very flattered by the rumors of Fiorentina interest, even though Corvino seems to have denied they're looking at him.
•Matthias Lepiller, who went on loan to Eupen in Belgium in January, scored a double in his team's final match of the season yesterday. In a recent interview, he said he doesn't want to come back to Fiorentina because he won't play, but since there's no option in his loan to stay with Eupen, it doesn't seem like he's got much choice in the matter.
•Speaking of babies, there are three Romanian U17 internationals on trial with Fiorentina this week. Aw, but Mutu's going to be spending the week in Rome -- they won't even get to see him!
•And, finally, a few random things: 1)Santana's agent says his rehab is ahead of schedule, and he may be back in time for the start of training this summer; 2)Zauri is from the area affected by yesterday's earthquake and, with the support of the club, is working on putting together something to help; 3)Juve supposedly want Ujfi. Noooooooo!
•Now that he's discovered no one will ever let him take a penalty kick, Gila's new goal is to score 20 goals in the league without a single PK. That's only four more in twice as many remaining matches -- go, Gila!
•Melo just got done in the press room, where he again denied the reports out of Brazil that he's looking to leave, and in fact claimed that they've already started talking with Corvino about an extension. (I dunno if I believe that, but it's certainly a nice thought.)
•Yesterday was a big day for Corvino: He got a granddaughter, and also announced that Fiorentina have signed a player, but he won't say who, apart from that it's not Zapata, or anyone else we've heard talk about. (Here's the full interview -- it includes discussion of Jojo, Pazzo, Ujfi, Vargas, and Liverani, among others.) Last year, the random early signing no one knew anything about was Melo, wasn't it? We can only hope this new mystery man works out so well.
•In other transfer news, last week it emerged that Fiorentina were allegedly very interested in Atletico Madrid midfielder Maxi Rodriguez. So interested, in fact, that despite his high price tag, they supposedly even put in an €18 million bid for him, only to have it rejected. (No idea if any of that's true.) Closer to home, there's Luca Cigarini, another midfielder who says he is very flattered by the rumors of Fiorentina interest, even though Corvino seems to have denied they're looking at him.
•Matthias Lepiller, who went on loan to Eupen in Belgium in January, scored a double in his team's final match of the season yesterday. In a recent interview, he said he doesn't want to come back to Fiorentina because he won't play, but since there's no option in his loan to stay with Eupen, it doesn't seem like he's got much choice in the matter.
•Speaking of babies, there are three Romanian U17 internationals on trial with Fiorentina this week. Aw, but Mutu's going to be spending the week in Rome -- they won't even get to see him!
•And, finally, a few random things: 1)Santana's agent says his rehab is ahead of schedule, and he may be back in time for the start of training this summer; 2)Zauri is from the area affected by yesterday's earthquake and, with the support of the club, is working on putting together something to help; 3)Juve supposedly want Ujfi. Noooooooo!