It seems whoever is in charge at Parma these days decided they’d celebrate the holidays a little later than everyone else.
On the field, the Crociati have been nothing less than red hot since the break.
Continuing that pattern, Parma dropped Udinese 1-0 in their last game to increase their Serie A win streak to three games in a row.
“We try to do our best in every match and this is a team that is working well and reaping the fruits of its labour,” head coach Roberto Donadoni told Rai Sport. “We have a excellent group [of players], if we didn’t, it would be impossible to do so well.”
Their poster boy of the turnaround — Brazilian-born Italian international Amauri — scored the winning goal of that match in the 35th minute.
All four of Amauri’s goals this season have come since the Serie A return from break.
However, Parma’s biggest victory of late didn’t come on the season. Rather, it came on the calendar.
The January transfer market ended just two days ago.
That is to say, the market closed without the Crociati losing any key pieces to their team.
Coming into January, a good number of players were subject of transfer rumors.
To start, star striker Antonio Cassano — team leader in goals, with seven — had said he hoped to return to Sampdoria one day.
The team weathered that storm with most aplomb. Not long after his initial comments about Sampdoria came out, he released a statement reaffirming his commitment to Parma.
“My future is in Parma, with these people, and I’m glad as this victory is very important,” Cassano told Sky Sport Italia.
Next, rumors exploded that midfield general Marco Parolo was soon to find the exit door. Again, those rumors passed with Parolo remaining with the Crociati.
Then, it was thought that Parma defender Alessandro Lucarelli would soon leave. Once again, that amounted to little.
Finally, with the time left in the transfer window ticking down, it was released that promising French midfielder Jonathan Biabiany was wanted by AC Milan. Not only that, a deal for his sale to the Milanese giants was not far off. However, time ended up working in Parma’s favor. The window closed without his sale being completed. He remains a member of the Crociati.
The only negative — or potential negative, rather — came in promising youngster Nicola Sansone’s transfer to Sassuolo. Rather, Sansone was part of a gargantuan five-player transfer between the two clubs.
Exiting Parma were Sansone, Aleandro Rossi, and Pedro Mendes. Heading Parma’s way were Ezequiel Schelotto and Jonathan Rossini.
No doubt about it, Sansone is a significant loss. Thankfully, it was on a co-ownership deal. So, while gone for the present moment, Parma could always cough up the money in the future to bring him back to the club if they so desired. Added to the fact, Schelotto and Rossini could provide quite the support to Parma’s bid to move up the tables in the second half of the season.
Moving forward, things are looking up for the Crociati. Finally, all the rumors and gossip of the transfer window are behind them. They know what they have and it will stay that way at least until the end of the season. From here on out, the focus is solely on their play.
The journey continues, starting with a difficult matchup against Serie A powerhouse A.S. Roma. What happens next? Who can say?
