| NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS Feb 9 - Frustration! 2-2 at Como, we were 1-0 up at half-time, then Frey saves two penalties in a row (the ref signaled a re-kick), but then our new defence lets us down, 2 goals. We come back to draw with another Mutu penalty, and then Cannavaro has a goal ruled out for offside. At least other results were excellent, but if we had won, it would have been so glorious... February 2 - We won! A 3-2 (Adriano, Barone, Nakata--both sides had a man sent off, Ferrari for us) victory against Udinese sees us leap-frog them into sixth, three points behind out-of-form Chievo. Bologna have dropped below us, and Roma are still four points back. If we can beat tricky Como next week, we should be in good shape. New addition Cardone played at right-back. Pierini, ex-Viola, has also joined the club. Bonnazoli scored again for Regina, and Gresko is at Blackburn. January 26 - Next week is a huge match, now. Today we drew away to Brescia, and Udinese beat AC Milan. If we had won today we could have made up a lot of ground, because Bologna and Chievo look to be in trouble. Now we have Udinese and Peruria on the rise, and we play the Fruili zebras next week. I was wrong about the transfers, though: Bonazzoli scored for Regina today, and Diana came on as a late sub. Are we crazy? Bresciano played for Mutu, and well, but you would think that with Mutu around, we'd have won... January 23 - Well, some interesting news on transfers. Many players have left on loan: Siviglia to Atlanta, Donati to Torino, while Marchionni might be joining him, and Diana, Torrisi and Bonazzoli are apparently headed for Reggina on loan, as well. Meanwhile, Blackburn's search for a left-back might lead them to Gresko. Now, I haven't been putting up team lists, but these players aren't playing too often, granted. However, letting them all go leaves us with no cover at striker and at the back. Also, Diana has started quite a few games, and it's only him and Bennie at right-back (unless Bonera slides over). Gilardino is our only back-up striker if Bonazzoli leaves, and in fact, with Mutu disqualified for the Brescia match, he starts, and then there's nobody on the bench. I think the Reggina deal can't be right, but we'll see... January 19, 2003 - And Happy New Year! Good news today, Parma beat Empoli with a tidy 2-0 form Gilardino and Mutu, which moves them (temporarily) up to 7th and a point behind Bologna, even with Udinese and three ahead of Roma until those two teams play today, at least. Last week we drew 1-1 away to Piacenza, though we were both unlucky and lucky not to win or lose, from what I could gather. Next week we have a tough but winnable match away to Brescia. Hopefully we can find some form and consitency. Adriano should be back by then, having missed two games. Mutu is excellent, but needs some support.. December 27th - Well, Merry Christmas, though it hasn't been so good lately for Parma. Inter finally won at the Tardini, and in the end, it was probably a fair result. We weren't completely outplayed, I think--all the goals came from set-pieces, and Marchionni missed the tying goal from a good position in stoppage time. That and the loss to Bologna has dropped us to 9th, now that Roma are winning again. A shame to drop points in such close games, but that's what happens with a young team. We'll be hard pressed for that UEFA cup spot, though, with Roma, Bologna and now Udinese above us. Not to mention whoever ends up 5th out of the title contenders. Maybe Lazio will completely fall apart now that their players are sueing for their wages... December 8th - PARMA 2-0 Reggina - Three in a row, and we've put some space between us and the 8th placed team, while catching Bologna or Chievo (they are drawing as of now, if it finishes that way we are one point back of both). I like the fact that it's 3 solid wins with none conceded. Adriano has two more, so that's four in two games. Next week, a big big match with Bologna, and we could go 5th! But, basically, we must make sure we don't loose ground, so a draw would be okay. We'll see how they do tonight, but we could beat them. Keep at it boys, we knew you had it in you! FORZA PARMA! December 1 - TORINO 0-4 PARMA - Another win, and we are now alone in 7th, pending Roma's result tonight. I feel bad for Toro, because they are having an awful season, after a good finish to last year. But, we were the only team on the pitch, apparently. Opener from Brighi, another free kick from Mutu and a brace for Adriano. Things are looking up, but we have a lot of work to do to catch Chievo or Bologna and win 6th spot, and we shouldn't count out a Roman recovery. Reggina should give us a chance at another 3 points next week. Speaking of Roman recovery, Mancini has Lazio top of the table! November 23 - PARMA 3-0 ROMA - A big win, against a bogey side from the past few years. Granted, they had no Totti or Cassano, but we won convincingly against a strong squad nonetheless. Bonnazoli scored twice and won a penalty, which is just about a hat-trick in my book, while Mutu had another blinder, scoring the penalty and setting up Bonna for the opener. We're back in the UEFA pack, now, even with Roma and Empoli and closer to Modena and Bologna. If we can beat struggling Torino next week (a tricky fixture, since old Renzo is due his first win as Torino boss) then we can keep moving up as our companions have tougher matches. It's still early in the season, and if we can get on a good run, and not loose too many people over the break, then we will have a pretty good season, one to build on if we can. It all comes down to reversing the transfer trends of the past few years... November 17 - MILAN 2-1 PARMA - Two penalties defeat us, and we are way down the table. We are also out of the UEFA Cup after losing 1-4 away to Krakow in extra time. Season is looking bleak so far, despite the battling displays from the promising young stars. They'll all leave at the end of the year, anyway... Novermber 10 - LAZIO 0-0 PARMA - We nearly lost this one, despite Lazio playing with ten men for an hour. I think we were intimidated, but we did put on a great show in Turin, and this time we had the man advantage. I had hoped for more. But, at least it's a point, which I would have taken at the outset. (In other news, Di Vaio scored for Juve (boo!) as they shot down Milan, who we play next week. We are 9th in the table, on 13 points, and it doesn't get any easier next week... |
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