Week Two has come and gone, and while I’ve been busily working on the podcast, I’ve skimped badly for the last few months on my day job which is as yeoman blogger. So, after interviewing last week a few notables like Paddy Agnew (author of Forza Italia) and Sheridan Bird (of football 365.com), I’ve been sooper-excited to get back to blogging about my favorite league: Serie A.
Well, have we learned anything after two weeks and another useless International break? Juventus are better than we thought, or basically luckier than anyone thought, and Roma have had fast starts and lackluster finishes for their 2 wins. Milan looked a tired side after drawing to Fiorentina on Monday, that’s after beating Sevilla on Friday in the Super Cup between the Champions League and UEFA Cup champs (but that wasn’t saying much as the Spaniards were rocked by the death of Puerta). Inter are, as always Inter, shockingly introspective and in need of some mood altering substances to control the stress. Thankfully they got a bit of azzurrini in a match against Empoli where Nosferatu Cagni looked dapper but angered by his Tuscan brood’s performance, or was that at the ref’s? In the end, I’d watch out for Fiorentina and Palermo who look to make headway in the table soon enough, as Roma go on a month long buzzsaw run through the top of the table.
Here’s an extra bit of sum-sumin’. My friend Elisa requested a review of our predictions, as she wants to taunt the lot of us for doubting the mighty Juve I guess. Therefore, here’s a tabulation of our 2007-2008 Serie A predictions we made on our podcast. She wants it in writing. No wonder she likes Empoli’s Cagni.

Elisa’s

  1. Top 6
    1. Inter
    2. AC Milan
    3. Roma
    4. Juventus
    5. Fiorentina
    6. Udinese
  2. Relegation:
    1. Parma
    2. Cagliari
    3. Napoli
  3. Top Signing/Transfer of the Year:
    1. Fabio Quagliarella
  4. Top Flop – Signing/Transfer of the year:
    1. Bobo Vieri
  5. Coppa Italia winners:
    1. Juventus
  6. Best peformance in UEFA Cup –
    1. Palermo – semi finals
  7. Best performance in Champions League –
    1. Inter in the final

Hannah’s

  1. Top 4
    1. AC Milan
    2. AS Roma
    3. Inter Milan
    4. Juventus
  2. Relegation:
    1. Napoli
    2. Genoa
    3. Cagliari
  3. Top Signing/Transfer of the Year:
    1. Ludovic Giuly
  4. Coppa Italia winners:
    1. AS Roma
  5. Best peformance in UEFA Cup –
    1. Fiorentina
  6. Best performance in Champions League –
    1. AC Milan

The Best (of course by me): wink wink
Mando’s

  1. Top 6
    1. AS Roma
    2. Inter Milan
    3. AC Milan
    4. Fiorentina
    5. Palermo
    6. Juventus
  2. Relegation:
    1. Genoa
    2. Parma
    3. Napoli
  3. Top Signing/Transfer of the Year:
    1. Fabio Quagliarella
  4. Top Flop – Signing/Transfer of the year:
    1. Antonio Cassano
  5. Coppa Italia winners:
    1. Juventus
  6. Best peformance in UEFA Cup –
    1. Palermo
  7. Best performance in Champions League –
    1. AS Roma- quarter finals

Next week: stay tuned for our interview with Paddy Agnew, author of Forza Italia.