The end of the "Fiorentina thread" after two-and-a-half years is upon us.

I liked the FloViola season, can I honour it by calling the new thread this?

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/dec27e.html

I reckon there's a decent chance he'll be in Firenze next season. Buso has done OK, but I'm not sure he's considered a permanent coach by Della Valle.

It would be a good move if you did get him, he is a good tactian and your younger players would benefit alot from his management

Prandelli would be fine by me (I think I nominated him as my prefered choice during the summer, not knowing exactly why he was out of the game for a while).

Managed to catch Gol! today... Portillo's goal was rather cheeky, and I liked it, but it's taken him bloody long enough.

The new name's also fine by me, but how come the 'Fiorentina Thread' that we know and love has to come to an end?

+ FORZA LA VIOLA +

All the threads are supposed to be deleted after 100 pages, because they take up too much room, or something.

Like the new name Michael, still got my (San Lorenzo market copy) shirt from that season.

Quite appropriate that you were the last to post on the old thread.

It's nice to remember the true name behind the rise to prominance once again.

The name Florentia Viola always inadvertantly makes me think of Vittorio Cechi Gori, and that in turn makes me want to get the old VCG voodoo doll out and start sticking pins in his ears.

However, we can now look back knowing that Florentia Viola was the beginning of where we are now, and that's cool.

I see the Mutu rumours are surfacing again, with his agent saying that he would be very interested in signing for us, but Juve are said to be sniffing about. There's something about that club and drug users...

+ FORZA LA VIOLA +

quote:

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Originally posted by Mezz:
There's something about that club and drug users

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This was posted on the XT boards, I personally thought this was hilarious.

"He may have been born a Juventino and will die a Juventino, but we all know he needs EPO to play like a Juventino."

quote:

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Originally posted by Curva Fiesole:
Like the new name Michael, still got my (San Lorenzo market copy) shirt from that season.

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Same - in a way I like the fakeness of the shirt, it almost sums up the season in terms of being like a little village team!

The old thread was named "The Fiorentina thread" when we were still FloViola, of course, so it's kind of a reversal of that.

I'm not sure about Mutu. Some may remember I constantly laid into him last season for not being the same player, and playing with a much more cynical attitude. I don't know if that was at all related to the drugs.

The thing is Mutu is the same sort of player as Miccoli, would it be a wise move for Fab's confidence?

"Should Mutu move in at the Stadio Delle Alpi then Fabrizio Miccoli is likely to remain at Fiorentina."

In this case, then there's absolutely no doubt that we should leave Mutu well alone. Well alone. Miccoli's better, and less of a risk.

I've seen Miccoli at close hand and had the unadulterated pleasure ( ) of seeing Mutu at Parma, and I've no doubt that Juve would have the better deal if Miccoli's contract was sold to La Viola and we grabbed Mutu for free.

I think Mutu at his best is better than Miccoli at his best, but I also think that Miccoli will always put more effort and so therefore you can always expect something from him.

I'm with Michael in that Mutu would be more of a gamble. The gamble being that Mutu will have been out of football for the best part of a year. So what will his motivation be like, will he reach the levels of his Parma days. But being as though he'll be free, you'll only lose money on wages if he does fail. Personally, I can't see that happeneing.

Most players have come back stronger after lengthy bans, Stam, Davids, Cantona to name a few. Bosnich is the only druggie I can think of who never came back (never gave up the drugs either).

I'd like to see Mutu at Fiorentina, provided it was a long term commitment and not a stop off on his way up the ladder again.

But Stam and Davids' bans were comparatively short, really. What was it, three or four months? I also entirely disagree with Curva's suggesstion that they came back stronger - Stam's best form was during 99-ish at United, and Davids was also about that time, in my opinion.
There is also the question of the type of drugs they were taking, indeed, whether they had taken anything at all. I don't want to get into the whole "your body produces nandrolone naturally" thing, but it's far from certain they did anything wrong. In addition, taking nandrolone is different to having a problem with cocaine. Therefore, on Curva's list of player who had legnthy bands, I suppose the only case you can compare it to is Bosnich's - hardly promising.
What's more, Mutu was absolutely awful for the majoirty of his season at Chelsea. Dreadful. Started off well, and then scored about 2 in 23 games, or something. There's nothing to suggest he'll return to his Parma form. Really, Mutu's had one good season in his career.
And if we do sign him and he fails, it will not be good for morale, at all.
Miccoli's better anyway.

I'd say he had one very good season with Verona (who eventually got relegated if memory serves me), where he scored 12 goals and then one wonder season with Parma.

I don't think he was dreadfull as you say Michael, but he definitely didn't reach the heights of the previous season, domestically at least.

He did reasonably well in that season, but nothing to suggest that he was anything special.

As for his Chelsea form, not only did he play badly, he was bloody lazy as well. Not the sort of player I want at my club.

Mutu didn't have the addiction to cocaine that Bosnich did (or at least that is what has been claimed), so you can't compare the two. And whilst Stam was outstanding for United during 1998/99, his form had dipped before his move to Lazio, where it picked up again after his ban.

Mutu has a lot to prove when he comes back - if he is available on a free then it is worth the risk, if we only offer him a one year contract then all it costs are his wages. A lot of foreign players have come to England and struggled - don't judge Mutu on one poor season at Chelsea when the tinkerman was in charge.