It has been a busy week for Torino as they played two Serie A matches, tied a player down to a contract extension, are looking at doing the same to others and face allegations to knowingly take their foot off the pedal.
Whether or not there is any substance to that particular claim remains to be seen but stems from comments allegedly given by midfielder Migjen Basha in an interview with a newspaper in his home country of Albania.
It is being speculated that he told the newspaper that the club’s downturn in form coincides with president Urbano Cairo not wanting them to qualify for Europe, at odds with what coach Giampiero Ventura was looking to achieve this season.
Who knows if this is or is not the case. However, it is somewhat surprising to see a team who had lost just five games up until the start of February but have since lost six of the last eight. Not that TCF is pedalling any conspiracy theories.
The club lost one of those games on Tuesday night when they took on Roma at the Olimpico and performed well, looking like they had secured a hard-earned share of the spoils through Ciro Immobile’s 17th goal of the season until Alessandro Florenzi broke their hearts under the Curva Sud in the final minute.
Immobile
Just four days before that, Immobile had been sitting on 13 goals for the season but an outstanding weekend hat-trick against Livorno propelled him briefly to the top of the scoring charts and dispels any doubt that he should be the first attacking name on Cesare Prandelli’s World Cup squad.
Why? Quite simply, in one of the world’s toughest leagues to score in, he is the highest scoring Italian marksman and only one of those goals has come from the penalty spot.
Check out that tripletta too if you are of the opinion that this is a player who is somewhat one-dimensional. His first goal, an outstanding header from a Cesare Bovo free-kick that sailed in unstoppably at the near post, shows the aerial threat he poses which is perhaps more prevalent than any other potential Azzurri line leader bar Luca Toni and perhaps Alberto Gilardino.
His second was technically as good as you will see from a ball coming on his blind side, over his head and dropping quickly out of the sky. He showed breathtaking awareness and ability to catch it first time and divert it over the head of the ‘keeper. It looked simple, it was not.
The thunderbolt third from the edge of the area proves he is not just a ‘penalty box predator’ and was a sweetly struck shot that skimmed steadily across the turf, finding its target in style. No references to planes will be made here, simply a plea to Prandelli: Bring Ciro to Brazil. He has earned the chance.
Immobile’s performances have understandably led to speculation surrounding his future. According to Tuttosport, there are two possible scenarios for the bomber’s future. Juventus and Torino are set to sit down soon and discuss the ownership of the player who is currently co-owned by both clubs.
It is being speculated that a blind auction could take place (where the clubs write down the figure they are willing to pay for his contract and the highest bidder wins) or else serious discussions will take place in the summer as nothing is to be decided until the end of the season.
Regret
Panagiotis Tachtsidis, who joined the Granata on loan in January from Catania, has admitted he regrets turning down the chance to move to Toro sooner.
The 23-year-old has made five appearances for Ventura’s men and told the Turin daily that he wishes he made the move when he had the chance four years ago: “In 2010, I refused to join Torino so I could play in Serie A but then I realised that I made a big mistake.
“Luckily I have got here in the end. It is too early to know if the move will be permanent and we have to take into account what will happen in the next few months.”
Happiness
One man also enjoying his football with the Granata is popular is Napoli loanee Omar El Kaddouri and he refused to commit himself too much to the cause for next season but is happy at the moment.
“Results lately have not been good but if we were a bit more clinical in attack, I think they could have been different,” he said this week. “The Roma defeat was so undeserved, just like the one against Napoli!
“What of my future? I have always said that I am very happy here.”
Extension
So happy in fact is fellow midfielder Giuseppe Vives at the club that he has inked a new contract extension keeping him at the club until 2015 at the least.
The tigerish veteran has been one of the first names on the team sheet this season for the man who will turn 34 in July given how well he has fitted in with the environment, his teammates and Ventura and his philosophy.
Vives will earn €400,000 per season under the terms of the new deal.
