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EXCLUSIVE Russo: How Ferrero is ruining Sampdoria
Four minutes into the second half of Saturday's 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Milan, and with Sampdoria already 2-0 down, goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano booted a free kick to an area with no blue shirts. His pass did find someone, that person being Milan striker M'Baye Niang, who preceded to add an easy third for the Rossoneri.
To put it bluntly, Sampdoria are a house of cards right now. New manager Vincenzo Montella could well be regretting the day when he decided to replace Walter Zenga at the helm. One thing is certain: he's joined a taem that has recently falled victim to football's equivalent of a scorched-earth policy.
It’s probably not a coincidence that all this happened against Sinisa Mihajlovic's new team. Last year I wrote that the Serb was upset because somebody was systematically dismantling all his good work: Manolo Gabbiadini and defensive rock Daniele Gastaldello being packed off during the January window, only for Samuel Eto’o to join in a move that seemed to have been made for image purposes,rather than help the team.
Fabrice Olinga joined in tow, something some attributed to Eto’o influence, though in the reality he arrived from Apollon Limassol, a club being influenced by infamous agent Pini Zahavi.
Another new signing, Joaquin Correa, lasted longer than I originally expected him to. Whilst he is still in the squad and starting here and there, Eto’o has moved to Turkey, whilst Olinga left to join Mouscron, another club controlled by Zahavi.
Most importantly of all, however, Sinisa Mihajlovic left, being replaced by Walter Zenga, a move which immediately incensed the fans. The revolving door just kept spinning, with cornerstones Alessio Romagnoli and Stefano Okaka departing during the summer. Sampdoria's signings have mostly turned out to be useless so far, and that's without even taking Antonio Cassano into account.
Before his side's humbling at the hands of Milan, Ferrero compared Mihajlovic to to Montella: claiming that he'd just brought in the best coach in the world. The producer has obviously yet understand yet that the time for joking is over. Football isn't Hollywood or Cinecitta', and there is no sign of a happy ending in sight.
