GIALLOROSSI YORKSHIRE BLOG
Yesterday, Roma president James Pallotta released a passionate statement defending the club following controversial comments from recently-departed sporting director Monchi.
Monchi left Roma in March, a little under two years since his appointment, as the two parties reached a mutual agreement to part company. The 50-year-old has since returned to his former club Sevilla, where he took those of a Roma persuasion by surprise with some accusations against the club's ownership. "I left Rome for a simple reason: we realised that the idea of the ownership was different than mine," he claimed. "The president thought it was better to go to the right, I to the left. It was not right to continue like this." Pallotta has since hit out at Monchi's comments, revealing his frustration at the poor job done in Rome by the former goalkeeper. These are some of the lessons we learned from the president's statement. Monchi is to blame for the club's crisis It's a position that many people held already, but Pallotta's comments have just added fuel to the fire that Monchi is the one to be held responsible for the desperate situation the club find themselves in. "I gave him 100% control to appoint the coach he wanted, to employ the assistant coaches and the performance staff, to manage the scouting and to bring in the players he wanted," Pallotta confirmed. "If you look at our results and our performances, it’s clear that this hasn’t worked." Monchi was given free rein over his project at Roma, but certainly did not deliver. Pallotta provided him with huge funds to sign players and appoint staff, but that money was wasted by the Spaniard on those not up to the task of helping Roma achieve their targets. Many of the players he brought in have under-performed, meaning Roma are in danger of missing out on key objectives. Roma's reputation at stake and club keen to protect it Pallotta didn't need to respond to Monchi's claims. The Sevilla man was just making a passing comment about his change of direction. But Pallotta was aware of the bad light the club could have been painted in. He didn't want Roma to come across as a club troubled with disagreements at the top. Roma have a reputation to protect and build upon, and Pallotta took it upon himself to ensure it remained as positive as possible. His statement was a staunch defence of the way the club has been run. Yes, some fans may be angry at him for appointing Monchi in the first place, but he made it clear that he did so with the best of intentions. It's inconceivable that anybody could have seen Monchi's tenure going this badly. And it didn't need to end with the club looking like the worse side of the two. Pallotta cares Often a divisive figure, with some fans upset at his lack of presence in Rome, Pallotta has shown through this statement just how much he cares about the club as a brand and a sporting organisation. He freely admits that, since November, "our season was going from bad to worse and everyone could see that the coach was struggling to get a reaction out of the players." He recognised the peril that Monchi had put Roma in. Pallotta wanted to change that. He knew that Roma needed to change things up. A Plan B was a necessity that Monchi couldn't provide. Indeed, when the time came for Roma to veto Monchi's wishes and sack Euesbio Di Francesco, it proved to also be the final straw for the sporting director. The club took the responsibility that Monchi couldn't, in order to reserve a fraction of hope for the remainder of the season. Yes, Pallotta cares, more than some fans realise. His admission that Roma "are in danger of missing out on finishing in the top three for the first time since 2014" seems to genuinely hurt him as much as it does the supporters. Pallotta still has big ambitions for Roma, even if certain things have taken longer than he would have wanted. But deep down, his passion for the club is there. And that's why he took the decision to act.
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samuel bannister
Founder and editor of Giallorossi Yorkshire, who is also a columnist for Roma's official website about the women's team. Categories
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October 2019
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