[Spam will go up later today; I'm waiting in the hope more pictures will appear.]

•Pagelle from yesterday: Everyone loves Gila, as usual, but he wasn't alone -- Kuzi, Dainelli, and even Vargas (who Cesare called "one of the best" after yesterday's match) came out of the match looking good, which is huge progress for all three of them. Also, official sites highlights are here.

•Monty and Kuzi were able to create their tricky little goal by communicating in German, of all things -- it's one of Kuzi's many languages, and Monty's German mom apparently taught him to basics. Or, at least, he knew that when Kuzi hissed "SPIEL" at him that he wanted the ball. Beyond their languages skills, both of their performances were encouraging, and even Cesare said the match marked the start of a new season.

•Speaking of Monty, he, Gambit and Gila all got Azzurri calls for the Bulgaria and Montenegro (look out, Jojo) matches. Woo hoo!

•In the wake of Juve's loss yesterday, the Cesare-to-Juve stories are back, this time with Monty following Cesare to Turin, and Dellio Rossi moving from Lazio to Florence to take Cesare's place. Whew. Got all that?

•According to C4 this morning, Mutu's got a knee problem to go with his screwed up elbow. It's being reported that he won't join the national team as planned, but pictures in the Romanian press suggest otherwise. No idea what's going on there; will update when anything is confirmed -- maybe he's just hanging out with the NT?

•Speaking of Mutu, I can't tell if this is real or not, but his face is on an anti-smoking poster that's been making its way around Romanian news sites lately. This is hilarious both because he smokes (allegedly), and because the text says something like "Chelsea want €17.3 million from me. Quit smoking, motherfuckers, and give me your money."

•Jorgy's also not healthy -- apparently when he went off against Steaua it really was because he was hurt, and not just sucking. He'll probably end up spending the break resting his poor foot rather than playing for his NT, but it's not official quite yet (his replacement, however, has already been named).

ETA: Mutu's definitely in Romania, and he's definitely training. I think that story about his not going was wishful fan site thinking.

•Monty was in the press room today [audio|video], and he sounded, as footballers say, serene about everything. He said: 1)There aren't really problems in the dressing room, things are just different, 2)That two seasons ago they also struggled at the start of the season because of the changes in the team but were able to sort themselves out and finish in the top four, and 3)That he expects a lot from himself just like everyone else does, and wants to score more goals than he did last year. When asked about it, he also confessed that the team quietly took up a collection ahead of Wednesday's Borgonovo charity match, and are going to make a donation for ALS research, alongside the gate receipts. Awesome.

•Osvi and Seculin were both called up for the Azzurrini qualifying playoff with Israel next week. Woo hoo!

•Speaking of Osvi, his agent recently reaffirmed that the boy is happy in Florence, but would also like to play more. And, in case we forgot, he did have offers. Thanks, agent.

•Away from Italians, Mutu, Jojo, Kuzi and Papa Waigo are all on international duty next week; I've not seen anything yet about Gambit, Vargas, Mazuch, Krol or Jorgy (if you have, let me know and I'll edit), but Da Costa has been dropped from the Portuguese U-21s.

•There's a football reality show called O dono de Bola being shopped in Brazil right now, the prize for which is a control (for a trial) with Fiorentina. The contestants will be 15, 16, and 17-year-old footballers, and they'll be judged by representatives of a Brazilian football management company. Apparently the show is happening and it's just a question of finding a network to air it, but we'll see. If it does, it'll spread the team's brand in a football-mad country, and could uncover some talent, to boot. Somehow, I feel like the genius of Corvino is behind this ...

ETA: The club released a statement today about the TV show thing and, while it's really hard to parse through Google translate, I think what they're saying is that the kid is getting a trial and nothing more.

•Tuttosport this morning reported that Ranieri could be on the way out next summer, with Cesare is first-choice to succeed him on the bench. While Tuttosport seem to make up most of their stories, when they're reporting on Juve, they usually have pretty good sources, and Cesare did play at Juve for a long time -- it'd be shocking if he's not thought about coaching there some day, but one hopes it's not going to be any time soon. *cross fingers*

•Melo was in the press room today [video|audio]. In the only excerpts I can find, he sounds quite content, both with playing deeper than he did in Spain, and also with how the team are playing -- he says there's room to improve, but that they've played well in every match but the Lazio one. Also, a bit like Frey, he wasn't too bothered by the whistling after the match on Tuesday -- he say the fans just want the team to win, and he can understand it.

•As evidenced by the giant wrap he wears on it, Mutu's elbow still hurts, and could continue to do so for up to two more months. Google translate doesn't seem to suggest that rest would help, though, so it's really just a question of him dealing with it, both for Fiorentina and Romania -- he's been called up to the NT for the next round of qualifiers.

•On the subject of Mutu and Romania, he's got a short post up at his official site about how much playing for the national team means to him, and saying the team should get more respect from the Romanian public. Awwwww. And, um, I really hope he wasn't pressured into doing that on the heels of those rumors about him retiring from the NT, or something.

•The fan sites are expecting more squad rotation against Chievo, with Gobbi on the left of the defense and Comotto, at long last, possibly getting his first start on the right. There's also mention of Pazzo, Jojo and Osvi, but that seems wishful thinking as much as anything else.

•The latest in the long line of Catania officials to offer assurances about Vargas is Pietro Lo Monaco, whose interview is really rather sweet -- he keeps talking about what a good kid (he actually calls him a "boy" at one point) Vargas is, how he's got a lot to learn as a player, and says that Cesare is just the person to help him grow.

•There is a column today in Il Giornale della Toscana that enumerates now, even in the loss and the draws, Frey has been just as important to the team as Gila. Not that there was ever any question, but still. &hearts

•Speaking of Frey, he'll be playing his brother this weekend, if Nicolas gets into the match. Aw.

•And, finally, there's a long article in La Gazzetta today, asking six questions about Fiorentina, and suggesting answers to each of them. Nothing really new there, but it's interesting to see them all brought together -- everything from Monty's flat start, to whether Vargas can succeed in Florence; from why Jojo's not even been on the bench lately, to whether the team needs a new system.

•There's video of Frey's and Dainelli's postgame interviews up at the official site. Dainelli was just pleased, while Seb talked about how the team has sorted out their problems in the locker room, but echoed Cesare's line about how anyone who wants to leave can make arrangements to go in January. Not that it's up to him, but I suppose it's good the team are buying into that program?

•After his whole "Gila's not strong enough for Milan" thing before the matches this weekend, Gattuso apparently called Gila and clarified what he said. It's all good. No, really!

•The stories that there's already an agreement for Mutu to go to Roma cheap next summer resurfaced in Italy over the weekend and, in response, Fiorentina have taken the step of issuing an official denial of the rumors. Make of that what you will.

•Speaking of Mutu, his little hissy-fit on the bench Saturday doesn't mean he's in a fight with Cesare, he was just frustrated, and really wanted to take that free kick. (And, anyway, according to Google translate, Cesare says "when [Mutu] is angry, I am calm," so it's all good either way. &hearts)

•Alot of the buildup for the Steaua match is sort of unavoidably about Mutu v Gigi Becali, but Corvino's doing his best to take the sting out of it all by talking about how many friends he has in Romania, and what hilarious jokers all three Becalis are. Heee.

•There's a sourceless (from what I can tell) quote floating around in which Mutu talks about how badly he wants to score tomorrow in order to have "revenge" on Becali for all the shit he's been talking lately. It seems awfully unlikely that Adi would be that dumb, though, so it could well be just some loose translating to get people fired up.

•Goal.com preview of the Steaua match is here, though since they've got Comotto starting on the left, I'm no sure how much stock we should put in their thoughts. Alternately, there's a fan site projected lineup here, which is likely to be at least closer to what ends up on the pitch tomorrow. FIFA.com also have a preview up, but it's more of a Gila thing, with a bit of Fiorentina thrown in, and UEFA.com's take is here.

•And, in the random rumor department, Italian-hungry German side Wolfsburg are supposedly interested in Osvi, and may come asking after him during the winter break.

ETA: Audio from today's press conferences (Cesare and Mutu) is here, and there's a summary here -- basically, Fiorentina are worrying about Fiorentina, not Steaua.

•The fallout from the Lazio match basically amounts to this: Everyone is pissed. Cesare not only held meetings after the match Wednesday and before training yesterday, but is also apparently telling people who can't be humble that they can leave (GO CESARE), and both Della Valles are furious, as well -- Diego even said that certain players shouldn't accept their salaries after a performance as bad as Wednesday's. Dang.

•Corvino, though, is customarily serene. He says he visited the team yesterday and had a chat with them, trying to find out what happened (Is that a common sporting director thing? I'm guessing no.), and is taking an impressively long view of the whole thing -- basically, there have been a lot of changes to the team, and there's work to do. Shit happens; you fix it. (I said that, not him, but that sort of seems to sum up his attitude right now.)

•Everyone has talked about problems between the old and new players on the team, Cesare mentioned them before the match, and he, Corvino, and Gambit all brought them up again afterward. No one outside the team seems to know what they are, but one of the fan sites speculated a bit yesterday, basing their opinions pretty much entirely on whose playing time is being threatened by the new arrivals. (It's hard to tell from Google translate, but it sounds like they say that, despite being new, Melo and Gila are integrating well into the team.) Make of that what you will.

•There's also been a lot of Vargas-related panic among fans after Wednesday's game, but everyone else is preaching patience, from Corvino to various Catania figures approached by the fan sites who are freaking out. (He'll be fine, people, he really will! It's just gonna take some adjusting -- it's not like they bought him thinking he was a stay-at-home left back.)

•In much less depressing news, the totally not biased readers of La Repubblica voted Cesare the best coach in the world -- he crushed both Mourinho and Lippi, who were a distant second and third.

•Mutu's baby was baptized in Florence yesterday, apparently with Cesare and assorted teammates in attendance. Aw. There's a series of really boring videos of the whole ceremony up at YouTube, if anyone is interested.

•And, finally, there's a really nice article about Gila here, heavy on talk about the (alleged) smiling.

•There's been a lot of happy stuff in the press the last couple days about Fiorentina's new-found squad size, and the resulting flexibility of Cesare's team selection -- and the turnover was supposed to be even greater against Bologna, but Semioli turned up sick and had to watch.

•After Sunday's match, Cesare compared Jojo to Totti. Oh dear god, no.

•In case you were wondering, though, Jojo drinks only mineral water and does nothing but play PlayStation. No showgirl WAG for him (yet).

•Zola and West Ham supposedly are planning to make a big money bid for Monty. And by "big money," they apparently mean €10 million, which seems awfully unlikely to impress the Della Valles. Good luck with that, Zola.

•Gila gave another exclusive!interview to the official site yesterday, wearing bright green and talking very positively about Cesare and the team and their fitness. He's just the same guy he's always been, he says, albeit "with a bit more experience and a lot of enthusiasm." &hearts

•Talking of Gila, Juve (and Italy) legend Paolo Rossi gave an interview recently in which he was very complimentary of both the emo one and Florence, giving the team credit for Gila's revival, and praising his selflessness on the pitch.

•Cesare was in the press room today [video|audio], talking about his plans to rotate the squad further tomorrow. But, he said, Pazzo had a knee problem yesterday, so it's not sure yet if he'll replace Gila who, according to Cesare, can't play 70 games in a season.

•Supporting the whole squad rotation thing, Santana's not on the team sheet for tomorrow, which means we'll have to see someone new on the right up front. (Since Pubes isn't on it either, it seems like Cesare will either go 4-4-2, or put Osvi or Jojo in Santana's place.)

•As promised, Cesare, Seb, and Dainelli were before the press today, looking like a bad-haired version of the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys. (I don't know what's going on with Dainelli's hair, but it's not good. Has he dyed it? Is he wearing a wig?) [video|audio]

•In brief, Cesare wants the team to "not be afraid to dare," Seb has nice things to say about Lyon and would prefer Fiorentina not give up any free kicks around the box to Juninho, and Dainelli says they've watched Lyon on video and know them well. Is that reassuring?

•On the Lyon side, Puel is suddenly being respectful of Fiorentina's attack and ability to keep the ball, Ederson isn't afraid of anyone but admires Gila and Mutu, and Jeremy Toulalan is being dicky and saying that Italian teams don't actually bother to play when they're away from home. (He's still smarting, one assumes, from the home thrashing Roma administered them in 2006).

•Outside the two teams, we have Jose Mourinho saying Inter are the only Italians who can win the CL (Cesare is awesome but Fiorentina are too inexperienced), and Cristian Chivu losing his mind and calling Fiorentina the favorites in the group. For Christ's sake, is he trying to jinx them?!

•In blows-to-the-ego news, nobody noticed when La Viola arrived in Lyon. Aw.

•A fansite guess at the starting lineups is here; there's also a random suggestion that Jorgy could figure.

•Away from the CL, Tuttosport (which is totally unreliable about anything but Juve and sometimes Torino) announced this morning that Mutu has a €4 million release clause in his contract and that Inter had just tabled a bid, aiming at a summer move. Needless to say, this has already been refuted.

•Speaking of Mutu, a Romanian fanzine did an interview with him recently (I warn you: Google translate sort of struggles with Romanian) in which he talks mostly about the national team, and has the balls to say that expectations for the team are too high. Good for you, Adi! He also touches on his ongoing media battles with the Becali family, saying the fighting is "like kindergarten." (Did I already saying "good for you"?)

( A few training and presser pix from today. )

•According to people who aren't Mutu, he wants to quit the national team, apparently because he doesn't like Victor Piturca, the current coach (who says he's not heard from Adi). Mutu's not said a word confirming or denying it, though, so right now the Romanian media are busy running around in circles freaking out.

•There's a loooong interview (five minutes!) with Gambit up at the official site about his poor shoulder, and he spends the entire time fidgeting like you would not believe, which of course only serves to make him more adorable. He talks about sitting in the locker room with Grosso and his busted ribs, and how the medical team just decided to take them both to the hospital, being happy Di Natale dedicated the win to the two broken players (aw), and how his little girl cried when she saw him getting hurt on TV (AW!).

•For some reason, Sky Italia followed Frey to school with his kids yesterday, since it was apparently their first day. The big news was that his daughter didn't cry when he dropped her off this year -- good work, Sky! He also said he can't really give his kids much advice about school, because all he did was play football when he was their age. Hee.

•Dondadel was interviewed in La Nazione yesterday and, as you'd expect, said all sorts of positive things about the team, but also noted that it's important now to prove they're as good on the pitch as they are on paper. Also, he's always wanted to be a CB and has apparently played there a few times in the past -- take note, Cesare!

•The odds of Donadel being deployed the back are slim to none, but there might actually be a legit possibility of Da Costa seeing some time this weekend. He's not on the CL roster, and could maybe be used some in league matches to save Dainelli's and Krol's (or Zauri's, or whoever's) legs for Europe.

•It's now official that Fiorentina fans will not be allowed to travel to Napoli this weekend. That decision, combined with the closure of two of the four home sections in the ground, means it's going to be a very quiet match. (This is probably a good thing for Fiorentina, because Napoli are always better when their supporters are around -- the were blah at Roma during week one until their traveling support arrived, and that changed the match totally.)

•In case you were wondering, Jojo's NT coach considers him the (not-Italian) heir to Baggio. No pressure there, kiddo.

•And, also, Gila says the Azzurri are fine as they are and don't need Amauri, dammit! (Granted, he's obviously not been watching the same Azzurri we have, the bit confidence remains amazing to see.)

Spam will be up by tomorrow; until then, some words.

•Pagella (What is the plural of that word? Pagellae?) from fan sites [1 | 2 | 3], and a table of how all the papers rated the team -- Gila was MOTM across the board and poor, invisible Osvi was rated the worst. *pats him*

•Gila's goal is here, and the official site has short highlights up, as well as quick interviews with Gila and Gambit.

•Cesare is thrilled with the result, describing it as being "like a victory," and Gila is stoked as well, thanking Cesare for fixing him (not in those words, but you know what he means), and talking about how nice it is to play where people have confidence in him. Aw, Albertogol!

•Random tidbit: As promised, DDV took the Juve suits out to dinner last night, and the reservation was in the name of "Gobbi" (hunchback), which is what Juve supporters are called in Florence (and elsewhere). Heeeeee.

•As a reward for his awesome, Gila is in the Italy team for the WC qualifiers next week, as is Gambit, while both Osvi and Seculin (!!!!!) have been called into the Azzurrini side. Also on international duty are: Papa Waigo (Sengal), Krol (Denmark), Jojo (Motenegro), Kuzi (Serbia), Vargas (Peru), Da Costa (Portugal U21), Mazuch (Czech U21s), and Gulan (Serbia U21s). Mutu, happily, has been released by Piturca, so he'll be raring to go for the Napoli and Lyon matches.

•It's the last day of the transfer window, and all the directors of sport are massing at a hotel in Milan, and rumors are FLYING. I'll update when anything happens, but for now the names in the rumors are the same: Burdisso (coming), Papa Waigo (going to Chievo or Reggina, though Corvino's denying all of it), Pasqual (meeting today to decide if he wants to stay), Osvi (being chased by Genoa still) and Da Costa (to Lazio in exchange for Stendardo, though Corvino is denying that, too). One new name in the mix is Lazio's Cribari, who could be brought in as cover for the CL but is thought to be really expensive. Again, these are ALL RUMORS RIGHT NOW -- I'll update if anything actually happens.

ETA: Corvino's on his way home, so it looks like no one's gone anywhere. Whew.

•The drama never, ever ends for Mutu. Now Gigi Becali (shady-as-hell politician who also owns Steaua Bucharest, and whose shady-as-hell cousins were once Mutu's agents) is claiming Adi owes him €75,000, and that he'll send him minions to Mutu's parents' house and get it from them if Adi doesn't pay. And, when Mutu denied he owes him anything, Becali cracked that he must have taken coke before making the comment. Jesus. Pure class, that guy. (The whole thing supposedly stems from a €200,000 loan Becali gave Mutu in 2003; he claims Adi only paid back €125,00.)

•Also on the subject of Mutu and coke, Susy Campanale's written a very good opinion piece on FIFA's verdict. I think most of us have been saying what she says for a while, but she articulates herself well, and makes a strong case for the absurdity of the decision.

•The official site has a three-minute behind-the-scenes-ish video up from the Slavia Prague match -- team plane! Waiting on the bench! Singing fans!

•Apparently Genoa have accepted that Pazzo isn't going anywhere, and have now turned their attention to ... Osvi, who they apparently would be easier to get. You've go to respect their audacity, I guess. (Apparently Genoa's brand new DS Rino Foschi is jumping ship after about a month on the job, which seems like it'd make it hard for them to get anyone lined up before the transfer window closes.)

•There's a long interview with Diego Della Valle in Gazzetta today; and one of the fan sites has reproduced it here. The best tidbit to come out of it is that in Florence this season, club presidents will be seated together in the tribuna during matches, which is how things are done in Spain. This system has great potential for hilarity, as the presidents try not to stand up and scream, point and laugh, and/or bury their heads in their hands throughout the 90 minutes.

•Gila had a press conference yesterday (video here) in which he was asked about playing Loooca in the CL, how he feels about Juve, and about the new, stricter enforcement of cards for diving. Gee, I wonder why they asked him about that ...

•And, finally, Gazzetta's projected lineup for tomorrow has Mutu starting. Has anyone seen confirmation that he's actually fit yet? Cesare says he's making progress but will face a late fitness test to decide his availability.

ETA: The squad list for tomorrow is out, and there's no Mutu. (Thanks, herm_weasley, for the heads up!)

•Mutu saw the doctor today and has been definitively ruled out of the Slavia Prague match on Wednesday. No decision's been made yet on Juve but, from the tone of the release, it looks 50-50 at best.

•In other Mutu news, the International Center for Drugs and Human Rights seems to be joining his appeal against FIFA's Chelsea decision in some capacity. Whoa. From what I can tell, they see the way Mutu's turned his life around as a rare example of someone recovering completely from drug use, and are concerned about the message that will be sent if his recovery (professional and otherwise) is taken from him. Damn right! (If I'm reading it right, they also seem to be worried he'll turn to coke again if the verdict is upheld. I wonder if he's flattered they want to help, or offended they think he'll collapse so utterly if things go even further south.)

•Getting back to the injuries, Gambit is good to go, and will probably start alongside Dainelli in Prague. Woo hoo! Also, he's supposedly getting ready to sign an extension to his contract, in order to stay happily in purple for a bit longer.

•Monty, meanwhile, is still resting, and seems likely to miss out on the Juve match. Boo.

•Papa Waigo went before the press over the weekend (video) and, while he seems to accept that a move is likely, he says he'll always be connected to the club because of the Juve match last season. &hearts He also talked about the football school he founded, funds, and gets supplies for in Sengal. Papa Waigo rules.

•Kuzi was the press victim today (video), and announced that he loves everyone. Good to know.

•There were apparently scouts from Spurs in attendance when the Viola played AZ last week, watching one Mario Alberto Santana, in whom they've been expressing interest all summer. Unless they offer a massive, massive fee, though, it's hard to imagine the Della Valles would sell -- the man can play up top or in the midfield, and does it awfully well. He'd be a big loss, especially in a season as packed as this one hopefully will be.

•The Arshavin story has been dug up against by goal.com, using the same "there's an unnamed Italian team with a CL spot interested" quote from his agent that was being trotted out at the start of the month. Yawn.

•In other baseless rumor news, C4 have turned a throwaway remark by ADV about Toni "return[ing] to us in a couple seasons" into a verbal agreement between the player and La Viola. Um, no.

•And, finally, there's apparently a long Viola article in the September Italian GQ which, among other things, features Frey, Gambit, Donadel and Pazzo holding forth on gays in football. From what can be discerned through Google Translate (not a lot), Gambit seems by far the most enlightened, while Donadel insists he's never met a gay footballer. *tries not to laugh* [ETA: revbiscuit generously translated the section where they talk about the gay issue here -- she's much better than Google.]

•The team made a quick trip to the Netherlands today (they flew out this morning, played, and very possibly flew right back) for a friendly with AZ Alkmaar, a match all the fans sites thought was off until someone noticed AZ selling tickets. There was obviously no Mutu, no Monty, and no Gambit, but La Viola still won 2-0, on a brace by Pazzo, (!) the second of which was reportedly a v. impressive volley. (When highlights go up, I'll add a link.)

ETA: Highlights from the AZ site (over five minutes) and the Viola site.

•Cesare was happy with the performance, and had particular kind words for Osvi and Pazzo -- he says he's glad he's got to make hard choices every time he fills out his team sheet.

•I realize this changes every day, but at the moment Reggina (who I think want him on loan) are thought to be front-runners in the Papa Waigo sweepstakes. His agent has confirmed Reggina's interest and that discussions are taking place, which instantly makes them more legit than any other team in the conversation.

•There was a hilarious little post on one of the fan sites today that basically said "Did you see Barzagli against Austria?! Man did we dodge a bullet by missing out on him!" &hearts &hearts &hearts

•Arrigo Sacchi, who attended the Slavia Prague match with Lippi, expects great things from Fiorentina -- he says they could be "the great surprise" of the Serie A season. (Of course, he also thinks Quaresma is rubbish, so we should probably take his opinion with a grain of salt.)

•It's a little hard to understand through Google translate, but here's a long, thoughtful blog post about all of Mutu's ups and downs. It ends with the suggestions that it's in Florence that Mutu's finally found "true love" with a city and its supporters, after his club struggles and constant ups and downs with Romania. Awwwww.

•Mutu (Romania) and Vargas (Peru) are in their country's teams for the WC qualifiers on September 6th and 10th; they'll both be back in time for the Napoli the following weekend.

•Cesare turns 51 today and, in totally appropriate fanboy appreciation, one of the Viola fan sites has put together a Cesare!spam to celebrate, as well as a place to offer him our birthday wishes. Go, say nice things in English!

•In significantly less pleasing news, Mutu dislocated his elbow this morning in training with the Romanian NT, and will have a cast on his arm for at least two weeks. Fuck. The silver lining is that Osvi will play, and Fiorentina survived just fine without Mutu when he was hurt and/or suspended last season, but still. FUCK.

•And, to make things worse, Monty's come back from Beijing with a muscle problem (Playing four games in like nine days causes the body to break down? Really? Gee, who knew?), and has been prescribed five days rest, after which he'll be evaluated again. He's not on the CL qualifier roster so it doesn't matter if he's not ready by the time that match rolls around, but the fact that he'll be missing even more training means that, even if fit, he may not figure in the season-opening Juve match. Crap.

•Speaking of Mutu, his appeal against FIFA's massive fine has been joined by FIFPro, a respected international body representing the rights of footballers. Their presence will lend a lot of legitimacy to his claims of being mistreated, despite the fact that they think his homeland is called "Rumania." Bygones.

•Corvino could be headed to Brazil soon in pursuit of a Sao Paolo defender: Either Alex Da Silva (who Milan and all their money now supposedly want, too, but with Ivanovic's agent saying he's coming to Milan, they could well be out of the picture) or Miranda, who Corvino has apparently actually spoken about, but whose price is too rich for purple blood right now.

•Gazzetta say that Fiorentina and Roma are fighting for Victor Obinna, who's currently blowing up at the Olympics. No idea if there's any truth to that, though -- it doesn't make much sense that La Viola would be striker-shopping.

•Poor Jorgy is having a hell of a preseason -- first he was horribly ill and missed a ton of training, and now he's picked up a muscle problem and is going to miss out on even more. *pats him*

•And, finally, Richard Godden at C4 thinks Mutu/Gila (The striking partnership, not the slash pairing. As far as we know.) is just dreamy.

ETA: A picture of miserable!puppy Mutu with his cast. God, the poor man.

•Mutu will be appealing FIFA's verdict on the Chelsea situation, with the Romanian Players' Association claiming he's been discriminated against, because an English player wouldn't have to pay compensation. The earliest anyone expects a verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport is early next year, but I've read it probably won't be until next spring. Which is good, since payment was to have been made within 30 days of the verdict (Hahahahhahahaa!), and one of the more reliable segments of the Romanian press is guessing Mutu's "only" worth about €10 million.

•Monty gets back tomorrow, while everyone on international duty leaves. The group who will be playing midweek friendlies are: Da Costa (Portugal U-21s), Mazuch (Czech U-21s), Mutu (Romania), Gila (Italy), Papa Waigo (Senegal), Jojo (Montenegro) and Krol (Denmark).

•Speaking of Papa Waigo, Monaco are now supposedly interested in him as well, increasing the (alleged) liklihood that he'll move abroad before the end of the month. (This just as the people at Goal.com have decided to sell him as the next-best-thing at right back. Do they notice that he's not even on the squad list for the CL qualifiers?)

•Osvi went before the press today, a duty that, based on all the giggles and grins, made him very happy indeed. (I'm fascinated by his hair in the video -- how does he keep it back and so still? Is it just shoved behind his ears with a lot of gel in it? Does he have clip in back there?) He said all the right things about staying because he's comfortable in Florence, and being happy Mutu stayed because it's best for the club, even though he'd have played more with him gone. Also, he says he has a tshirt with his goal against Toro on it, and talked again about how many times he's watched it. &hearts Man, do I hope someone else have him that shirt.

•And, finally, an ex-Viola: After suffering a season-ending injury in his first match for Man City last season, Valeri Bojinov went down with an Achilles injury in warmups today, and could be out for as long as six months. That poor, poor man -- I think maybe the universe is trying to tell him football isn't for him.