Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

In Belgium: nothing, nada...but last weekend i discovered that we can capture several Italian tv-stations...so that's an interesting find. Not sure if i will end up looking though. I love Serie A, but i'm not a big television freak.

I usually spend my evenings either reading books (most of all), playing games (for about 1 hour to 90 minutes on average) or watching series on DVD (The Wire, Battllestar Galactica, The Soprano's...). And then there is the time my wife and the kids spend watching television (an awfull lot).

I do watch highlights on the site of The Guardian.

I wonder if there is a specialized website about Italian football, that is in English or French.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Gerd, get a satellite..you can watch ALL European football games (and more) for just 10 Euros per month
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Thanks for the tip Fremm, but i'm not really interested in more TV channels, most of it is rubbish anyway.
Sorry for this answer...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I'm currently watchin BSG Stef...i'm in the third season know..the humans just were liberated from new Caprica...
It's a fantastic allegory for the world after 9/11.

After that i will try The Soprano's...i have the ultimate box with the complete series...

Sorry to be off-topic...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

lo zio said:
i have a question for u guys, how is serie a coverage in your countries? i'm curious. how many serie a matches are broadcasted each and every week? do they ever broadcast midclass clubs fixtures or is it always about the top 4 (milan, inter, juve and roma)?
we have people posting from many different countries in here.... portugal, england, canada, UAE, belgium.... so what kind of coverage serie a gets in your nations?:))
Click to expand...

Hey Ben! Portuguese sports channel Sport TV use to broadcast 2/3 games per week. Last week they showed Cesena-Milan (recorded) and Juve-Samp (live and HD). I saw Juve's game (well, I hate recorded matches because I tend to see the result in the internet :P).
Next week there will be Fiorentina-Lazio, Milan-Catania and Inter-Palermo all of them live but no HD. But yeah, most of the time it's big 4 games which is pretty lame cause I want to see the 'little Portuguese' Genoa. Although they show every derbies - Samp-Genoa, Palermo-Catania, Fiore-Siena and so on.

However, is given more attention to Premier League and Spanish League. Plus, we have a specific channel for the Premier League called Sport TV HD Liga Inglesa full of matches, interviews, analysis, etc. About Spanish League, this week they will broadcast 5 live matches (2 in HD).
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Jumbo_ said:
Well it's got a better in England over the last 2 seasons since ESPN bought the coverage rights (although not that many people subscribe to the channel). They've started showing quite a few games this season, usually one or two live games a week and sometimes a rerun of a game from the day before and it usually involves one of the top 4 though not always.
Click to expand...

And that's the principle problem. You pay enough as it is for Sky+ (£50+ a month), and then you've got to pay for ESPN on top of that. But when you see the games available on ESPN, it's highly appealing (Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, RPL, Ligue 1 etc.). Hence why you have to remain fixed to your television when they do their "Freeview" weekends once a year (Which was this weekend, on Sunday they showed the Brescia vs Palermo and Napoli vs Bari matches as well as Cologne vs St Pauli)

There was a time where you could catch matches on the terrestrial channels, on Channel 4 and Channel 5, and I believe the BBC have, on a very rare occasion, shown a Serie A match. They showed Italian Football on Bravo for a while but they took it off the air (Let's face it, who watches Bravo?).

In fact, when you think about it, there's a lot less football on terrestrial television in the UK than there has ever been before. It's mostly shown on Sky (lots of Premier League, Champions League, La Liga and the odd lower League match) and ESPN (already listed).

And they wonder why people are opting to watch Football matches online. :ROLL:
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Maybe they want to encourage people to go watch the game live instead of tv? If I were there I'd do so.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

What are they saying back and forth?

p.s. He seems to speak pretty good Italian. Does he?
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

He speaks alright Italian, but he's been in Italy for around 5 years now. Basically Sacchi said that Zlatan was lucky to have big feet to score that goal. Zlatan reacted angrily and was like "he should do less talking and more watching... I heard what he said about me at Barca and if he doesn't like watching me, then don't."... he then went on about how Sacchi should stop talking so much.

Zlatan is a prick, but you gotta love his ego!
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Hahaha yeah the man DEFINES ego! :LOL:

I can see why Pep wanted him out of Barca. He just won't get along well with the core of that squad, humble great united team-players like Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta, Messi, etc. He's one self-centered egomaniac. I think he would've brought a lot of disharmony to Barcelona and so Guardiola wanted to avoid something huge going wrong (like dressing room conflicts) before it's too late.

Because other than that, Barca's move doesn't make sense. They're losing a great player and someone who offered something very different (a Plan B) and huge financial loss as well. But one player is never worth having the whole team getting 'cancer' and that's what Pep might have already seen 'signs' of with Zlatan in Barca and probably not fitting in great.... even mostly with his own ideas and philosophies as a coach anyway. He can be disrespectful and complacent and I'm not sure those are attributes, Pep admires in his players.

In regards to his Italian, 5 years isn't that long tho (Especially when you don't come as a child but as a grown up man to a new country to learn a language from scratch) and I don't think Italian is an easy language. Considering he's a Bosnian Swede and also speaks English and some Dutch, I thought his Italian might not be that good but it seems decent enough....
 
Last edited:
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I find his Italian quite funny. Sometimes he sticks a random English word in.

"Abbiamo giocato bene, sono molto very happy for the result, dobbiamo continuare cosi" :LOL:
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

PLF said:
I can see why Pep wanted him out of Barca. He just won't get along well with the core of that squad, humble great united team-players like Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta, Messi, etc. He's one self-centered egomaniac. I think he would've brought a lot of disharmony to Barcelona and so Guardiola wanted to avoid something huge going wrong (like dressing room conflicts) before it's too late.
Click to expand...

Well PLF, that is a big mistake by Pep or Barcelona, because even i could have foreseen that...Zlatan and Christiano Ronaldo are two immensely talented players that i would never want in my team as a coach. It's all about them, whereas football is a team sport.

Guys like Kaka or Messi are team players...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

He's a prick, but I like his cocky attitude.
At least HE HAS some guts, unlike some other forward we had some time ago *coffgilardinocoff*.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

How is Pastore doing ? Information would be appreciated.

He looked great in the Europa League but I've yet to catch him in serie A action.

Thanks. :))
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Del Piero is on fire right now. I have not seen him pass players and dribble around them so easily in a while now. Dribbling masterpiece. Lech replied with the same kinda goal though. :)
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

hey guys, thanks a lot for your infos about serie a coverage abroad... really appreciate that :))

i got to say, it's much better than i expected. too bad there's no serie a action in belgium Gerd, but the english coverage seems actually pretty good.... although i understand riccardo's (:COOL:) and tom's concerns about the access to that coverage (the terrestrial\satellite distribution thing).
and the al jazzera coverage!!! WOW!!! is al jazzera free or is it a pay channel in UAE, Lami? coz if that huge coverage comes for free, that's even more impressive! :))
Dominic, Sina... what about netherlands and canada?? :))

about the ibra-sacchi argument, seriously what an idiot zlatan is.... unbelievable... how can somebody make a fool of himself like this...
and check out the class of sacchi.... after ibra attacked him, he remained silent for a few seconds... he probably was thinking "oh boy, i'm so gonna humiliate u right now".... but then he realised it would have been better not to dignify him with an answer :WORSHIP:

as for ibra's italian, Sina... he's pretty decent... but u got to consider we're talking about a millionaire whose only obligation is to spend 2 hours a day in milanello training.... with the money he has, he can afford the best italian teacher.... and he certainly has lots of free time...
.... a monkey could learn to speak a decent italian in a few months with the money and the free time ibra has...... and afterall, ibra still is almost as smart as a monkey so...

TSO: i see you're a man of your word! :)) the world cup is over and u got back to your "birds-avatars" :BEER: well done amigo! :TU:

Albi, it's still just the 2nd week of the season, but i gotta say javier has been pretty awesome..... as usual, afterall.
Franco Causio was commentating brescia-palermo last week. during the match he said "i know some people are gonna think i'm crazy... hell i can't believe what i'm saying either.... but the resemblance between pastore's and zidane's way to move along the pitch and touch the ball is really unbelievable... it creeps me out!"
 
Last edited:
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Thanks lo zio. That is some comparison. He's got a way to go before he get's there. :P But I have not been able to see him apart from the game against Maribor.

He would have played against Spain but I think he had a prior commitment with Palermo.

Thanks again amigo. :) I see he missed an early chance against Inter though. :(
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Coverage is good here, Ben.

We've got a couple different channels covering the league. The Score shows it in HD as well! :D and we have Fox Soccer Channel which focuses on Serie A as well.

There's I think about 4 games shown each weekend then and they do range in terms of who plays.

Earlier today, I saw parts of Palermo vs. Inter for example and right after it, I noticed Fiorentina vs. Lazio were playing.

Usually it does include the top-teams, that's understandable, it's the same for every league but they do show random mid-table games or even relegation candidates here and there and they always show the derbies too. I've never seen a Genoa vs. Sampdoria game NOT broadcasted for example. So that's a good thing.

p.s. Not to sound like an asshole, but looking at that list of Serie A salaries for the new season, I'd say if I were a Palermo player, I would wanna move elsewhere! :D

They're just not paying their players as much as they're worth or let me rephrase that (since ALL these footballers are actually getting paid far more than they deserve anyway), I meant not as much as they could get elsewhere at bigger clubs or abroad.

If I'm Hernandez or Pastore or almost any of those players, I can make a lot more $$$ if I were to move. Half a million per year for someone like Pastore? I'd be pissed off! :LOL: Especially knowing just how much more $$$ some of these players around the world HALF as talented make!
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

It just shows how happy they are in Sicily. Great food, great weather, pink, passionate supporters, and the funniest president ever.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Lool yeah I understand that, to some degree, but I think that matters most when you're Italian anyway. So I could see why Miccoli would decide to stay where he's loved and he LOVES his life-style and his family is comfortable, etc. instead of accepting Birminham's offer in summer.

But honestly at the end of the day, $$$ talks! ESpecially for a footballer who makes a living for what like 10-15 years, if you're an absolute fitness freak and legend like Zanetti 20 years? You GOTTA make as much $$$ as you can in my opinion. Because you sorta have to live off that money for the rest of your life. Of course there are other avenues that open up for you when you retire, whether it's as a coach or TV pundit, etc. but the REAL money you make is as a player.

So I don't know, if I were someone like Pastore and I see I'm making half a million per year while Ronaldinho is making 7.5M!! 15 times as much! I'd be thinking: "Damn... I gotta get outta here!" Now of course I know there are many 'flaws' with this argument, for example Ronnie was an established player when signing for Milan giants, his resume speaks for itself, former player of the year, etc. and Pastore is on his first contract in Europe, gonna get extension soon, etc. there are many ways to justify this... NONETHELESS, you can't argue with the fact that as of right now, in terms of ability, there is NO WAY Ronnie should be making 15 times as much as Javier! It's outrageous and beyond unfair!

Of course I didn't mean to signal out Palermo, they're paying their players what most mid-table Serie A clubs are paying as it becomes evident from that link. Problem is, in general, it seems like mid-table Serie A clubs are simply not paying their players enough $. And I again I use the word 'enough' only because I'm comparing it to what players of that level of ability could make elsewhere, in reality these fuckers all have MORE than enough! :D

If I'm Cassani, and I'm making 0.6M per year! If I'm Inler!! And I'm making 0.6M per year while players HALF my ability in England are making 1.6M! There's something wrong!

Looking at that list, the lure of Premier League and playing for big clubs becomes VERY clear!

You have guys like Jankulovski making almost 3M per year, older now, injury prone, and Cassani gets 0.6M!

No wonder, loyalty is almost dead these days and even then, it comes when a player is usually in a huge club already like Del Piero at Juve or Raul at Real, Scholes/Giggs at Man U. Because even though players will always use the 'I'm only moving because I want to win titles" as a side excuse, they're moving because their pay-checks grow exponentially!

Seeing Gila make $2M at Florence, actually makes me wonder, how much did he used to get paid you guys think when he was in Milan? 3M?

Also there are a couple that really stand out for me. Are guys like Santacroce and Jankovic (Genoa) really getting paid THAT little?!? 0.25M and 0.3M ? Now these guys are hardly world-beaters. They're squad players for their mid-table teams but I still expected them to get paid about double that, so it really surprised me how little it is!
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Milanista said:
It just shows how happy they are in Sicily. Great food, great weather, pink, passionate supporters, and the funniest president ever.
Click to expand...
pink :LOL::LOL:

PLF said:
p.s. Not to sound like an asshole, but looking at that list of Serie A salaries for the new season, I'd say if I were a Palermo player, I would wanna move elsewhere!
Click to expand...
yeah, i think i would do the same :P
but then again, that's the good thing when u do your own scouting. we look for our players in less rich leagues and we always buy them very young... that's why we get them on the cheap. i mean hernandez signed his first professional contract with us, so it's pretty understandable the reason of such a low wage... same goes for sirigu. most of the other kids were at their second professional contract when we signed them.

afterall that's how it usually works out. they come here, develop and establish themselves as good\great players, and then go finding greater pastures.
this way those kids get a shot at serie a football (and a chance to get starting 11 playtime), and we make profit.

of course if those kids would have signed their first contract for a more important club, they would have got much more money.... but also much less playtime and experience... and at this stage of your carreer, playtime (and the experience that comes with it) is even more valuable than a rich contract.
i mean i'm sure pastore would like to earn as much as ronaldinho, but pastore also knows that if he wants to get that kinda money, first he has to establish himself as a top player for at least a couple of years. and he knows palermo is a very good "first step" in that direction.

PLF said:
Problem is, in general, it seems like mid-table Serie A clubs are simply not paying their players enough $.
Click to expand...
i actually think is the other way round. it's premier league clubs and la liga's clubs (and also inter an milan) who pay their players way too much.
u see the real benchmark is the balance sheet.
for instance inter loses about 100 millions euros per year... even with the huge incomes they have (tv-rights, sponsors, champions league related incomes).... even taking all that money into account, each and every summer moratti has refund the club with his own money... and we're talking about 100 millions! and those 100 millions don't even cover for new signings... he puts into the club those money just to cover current expenses (players wages and staff salaries)!!! :CONFUSE:
and the owners who don't have that kind of money (or who don't want to spend that kind of money) have to ask for help from the banks (and we all know what happens once u recurr to that).

u see, the so called financial fair play is a must in italy today, but it hasn't been always like that.... till 15 years ago most of italian clubs used to overspend (by overspend i mean spending more money than u earn each season)..... for years serie a wages were as crazy as premierl league wages are today........ but eventually every club which overspent, every president and owner who bit more than he could chew payed the consequences..... fiorentina and napoli went bankrupt, lazio and roma almost did the same.

we learned our lesson....... eventually, i'm afraid, premier league clubs and liga clubs will learn that lesson too (unless platini manages to save those clubs from themselves before, by forcing them to take a closer look at their balance sheets).

so i wouldn't say we're not paying our players enough.... it's the others who play theyr players way too much.
and mind u, i'm not talking about ethics here... i'm talking about business. u can't spend more than u earn..... recurring to the banks is absolutely normal for a company...... but companies recurr to the banks in order to expand their activity.... not in order to pay their employees' salaries..... football is the only industry where such an absurdity happens....
if u need money from the banks to build a new stadium or to improve your current stadium than it's absolutely ok..... but if u need money from the banks coz your incomes don't cover for your current expenses (wages, salaries, manteinance expenses, capital losses, amortizations, interest payment)... that means u're in deep sh*t!

but like i said, sooner or later, they'll realise in what sort of a hole they dug themselves into... let's just hope it won't be too late...... coz sooner or later loans and bonds expire.... and one way or another, banks always get what u owe them.

so all in all, talking about future trends, i'd say it's much more likely to see english, clubs, spanish clubs and inter paying their players a lot less in a few years, than seeing italian clubs paying their players more.
 
Last edited:
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I hear you Ben. I agree with all that and being a Commerce graduate myself, that's what we study, bonds/loans, businesses, income/profit, etc.

When I said what I did, I didn't mean Serie A clubs aren't doing it right and others are. It's the other way around I suppose like you said. But my point remains, as a player, you don't care about none of that. All you know is like I said if you're Inler or Cassani, players HALF your ability are making 3 times as much money as you in let's say EPL! And that is wrong and would wanna make you move there. It's that simple. All that other stuff concerns the clubs, economy, stability, presidents, etc.

But as a player, you and I don't care about that too much. All I know is the pay-check I'm getting is far less than it could be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom