If anyone's interested, the Bologna v Mantova game is currently being shown live on British Eurosport 2.

Poo, we're finally on the Roger Mellie and I miss it!

It was a bobbins 0-0 anyway.

I thought the commentators were overly harsh, and judged the game on Serie A standards. It was a tight, hard fought game between 2 sides who needed the points for different reasons.

Bologna were not obviously the team in 15th, and in fact deserved the win (of course I'm not in any way biased here ).

If we can get a bit of creativity from the wings (the left side in particular was just awful), and teach the strikers what 'movement' means, promotion is not yet beyond us. There was one very noticeable occasion late in the second half, where we had 2 in the box (couldn't see who), who stood in the same spot for about 30 seconds waiting on a cross from the left, being marked by 4 defenders. No movement or creation whatsoever. The defence and midfield looks strong though.

Took a HUGE immediate dislike to Mantova. They've obviously conned their way to the top this year, preying on weak refs. Graziana in particular is a very dislikeable character - I haven't seen anyone (even Inzaghi) spend so much time on the deck or flapping his arms at the ref. He pulled the front of his shirt at the ref so often I wasn't sure whether he was complaining about shirt pulling (Mantova being the blameless angels they arein this respect) or if it was a nervous habit he has developed !

I was glad to see Bologna playing on at one point when yet another Mantova player rolled around on the ground after the slightest of touches. imo this 'tradition' has now become more of a problem than it trys to fix (when teams would try to nobble a player so the other team were temporarily down to 10 men). It is now common to have 3 or 4 promising moves per game cancelled out because of theatrics. Time to lose this stupid 'rule' !

Mantova created virtually nothing all game, yet the awful Bryan Hamilton raved about the first (and last) shot at the start of the second half. For goodness sake Eurosport, get rid of him, he's a total embarassment ! At least their's no-one in Serie B called Kaka for him to totally mispronounce car-car .....

All in all it wasn't a bad game for Serie B (better than Blackburn - Sunderland dor instance), and it was great to see Serie B on TV. 2 games per week, Monday and Friday night, apparently. Hopefully not the last time we'll see Bologna this year then.

Good report!

Sounded promising, maybe "bobbins" was a bit harsh. We have to give the new man a bit of time.

And good old Bry Hamilton back on song!

Nothing but 3 points will do tomorrow at home to Ternana. If they play like they did against Mantova (spit), there should be no problem - and maybe with a bit of luck Torino will slip up at home to Verona.

That and a win at Albinoleffe next week should lift us into the top half at least. It's going to be though to catch Mantova / torino / Atalanta though.

There should be two good games on Eurosport 2 next week with Modena (5th) - Cesena (4th) on Fri 25th and Verona (6th) - Catania (8th) on Mon 28th. Unfortunately this week is Bari - Albinoleffe and Crotone - Rimini.

Hardly inspiring, is it? Although I have had a nice holiday in Rimini and did watch Albinoleffe lose 4-0 in Turin two years ago so that's where the connection ends.

I think we're getting to the stage where these are must-win ties. We've seen how teams can go on a run and catapult themselves into promotion contention and with a new guy at the helm, it's definitely possible.

Pagliuca didn't come out of yesterday's game with a lot of credit.

First goal was a weak long shot which should have been dealt with easily and instead scrambled over the line. Second goal was a terrible back pass, which GP initially did well to rescue, but then when it was all under control he for some reason toe-poked the ball away from all 3 Bologna defenders to an unmarked stiker. Third goal was a breakaway near the end when we were chasing the equaliser, in a sense not much GP could have done, but he was on his knees at the edge of the area when he was chipped, and the ball was only just out of reach, if he had have stood up a bit longer - no goal.

Can't tell how the team played in general as Rai only showed the goals briefly (Brescia were on live) - our goal was a header from a cross - but obviously to let 3 in at home to a relegation side things can't have been good.

So much for pushing for promotion - at the moment it's Serie C1 we need to be worrying about.

Sounds dire. I've only just come back from holiday and the smile has been wiped from my face. Trouble is, it's very hard to blast GP after one bad match when he's saved us numerous times in the last few years.

Pagliuca is brilliant. I'd have him back at the San Siro over...Paolo Orlandini any day.

Do I detect sarcasm?

No, it wasn't! It's just that now I wouldn't rate him above Julio Cesar or Toldo, but I'd certainly have him as our No.3! In his heyday, I'd choose him to be our No.1

Aye, he was up there with the magnificent Walter Zenga.

Well 1 point from a very possible 6 over the last 2 weeks was hardly inspiring was it ? Looking back over November, we had defeats to Cesena (5th) and Ternana (18th) & draws with Mantova (1st) and Albinoleffe (19th). Sheesh.

Now only 5 points above 4th from bottom - the might of Albinoleffe - the purpose of this season is now very firmly to avoid relegation.

How did it get so bad so quick ?

For a number of years now, the players have failed to be inspired by a series of defensive coaches who'd happily see us score 30 goals in a season and concede 35. Then, Mazzone took us on a terrible run at the end of last season for reasons I cannot yet recognise. So, down into B we go and the pressure is on us to set the pace. We can't play as negatively as in recent years because that doesn't win trophies. Anyway, we got off to a good start then stuttered - players panicked, lost faith in their coach and their own abilities and the downward spiral continues.

From what little I've seen in recent weeks, it seems we're still playing a very defensive game, in a division that requires physical strength and a more direct approach to get out of it. Nice passing is of little use here.

I only hope we don't sink to the depths of C1, which is a distinct possibility, and maybe years of obscurity.

Which is the place from which we ultimately came a decade or so ago.

1-1 draws at home to Cremonese like today will not help the cause, although it underscores what a beacon of shining light Claudio Bellucci has proven to be this year.

Avellino 2-2 Bologna.

FT Bologna [1 - 0] Rimini

9' [1 - 0] C. Bellucci

That man does it again. Finally the crowd can go home from this localish derby of sorts with smiles on their faces.

Sh*t, didn't realise we had a game tonight. 0-0 after 5 minutes.