Bologna

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So, to sum up: * Up to approx 2,444 police officers will be probed on Hillsborough from 19 forces * Not all documents seen and they need to be collated and put into IPCC system. * Members of public coming forward after Report, saying they couldn't make a statement or their statement was changed * Norman Bettison resignation will not stop any investigation by Neil Macdonald 11/13/2012 4:08:21 PM 5:08 PM

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Italy have hardly been world beaters. Did OK against Spain and drew, were fairly insipid against Croatia and drew again and then beat Ireland but without impressing. Who are you supporting? I imagine the RFH factor has pushed you into land-of-my-birth mode. In public I'm playing down England's chances big time. In private i reckon it'll be a fairly even game. Penalties is a good outcome because there is always refuge in the lottery aspect.

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We were linked with him all through last season.

I've seen him play a few times. He's not a winger though. He's an attacking midfield player. He's quite good. What I do like about him specifically is that he doesn't rock the boat when he's not picked, things aren't going his way, etc.

Clearly there is a risk of this happening in any kind of discussion about another country. I can assure you however that my statements are not ridiculous, even though they are a little generalised.

I know and that's a fair point. However I was nominally a Milan fan when i first came to Italy but the first season of watching Bologna made me into a Bologna fan. My experience tells me that the only way to feel fully the visceral ups and downs of supporting a team is to see them play in the flesh over a period of time. That's when you become a fan. It is not my intention to offend any OOTers on here.

Is correct. The vast majority of their fans have never even been to a match. When asked "but if Juve were to play your local team who would you support?" many of them reply "my local team". The Moggi nonsense didn't just occur over the two seasons they were eventually done for but had been going on for years. At first I was sceptical of non-Juve fans who acused then of having "stolen" half of their league titles. Now I see they probably have a point. Italians like to live in denial. They must do otherwise how do you explain the fact that 90% of them claim to be catholics and then the majority completely ignore much of what the RC church has to say, don't go to church regularly but then marry in church "to please my Mum". This denial, perpetuated by the indulgence offered by the RC church, extends to justice. Italians are unable/unwilling to follow rules. Thus when lots of people are accused of illegal activity they tend to hold their hands up and say "Ah, everyone's at it so if we're all guilty then we're all innocent". No segement of society exists as an island isolated from the rest of that society. Italy is a country where skullduggery abounds and football is no different. Given that justice in Italy tends to be weak with the powerful and powerful with the weak then Juve (but they are not alone), as a powerful football entity, have successfully evaded their just desserts.

Paisley was given a seat on the board when he retired from manager.

This. Like Matty and myself, if you had lived in Italy for a period of time you too would passionately hate Juve and everything to do with them. They are a microcosm of many things that are bad in Italian society.

As a general rule Paolo = Italian, Paulo = Spanish/Portuguese (I know it's Pablo really). So how much of a red herring I don't know. It is the Guardian after all.

Paolo di Canio Paulo Wanchope I would hope his former teammate knows how to spell his name properly. How's it spelt in the original article?

I think you mean "chi?"

No but I'm currently translating the FSA Euro 2012 fan embassy website into Italian.

I'll reserve judgement but for now I agree with you.

haha

He's not claiming ignorance of the law. He's trying to establish a lack of mens rea The question I'd be asking myself if I was on the jury is: "Why did he go to Monaco in person to open a bank account and the only 2 transactions ever in the history of that account are the 2 mentioned in court?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEbBBvk0c3Q

I seem to remember Ken Dodd's defence ran along the lines of "I didn't know tax was payable on my offshore bank account in Jersey" and that seemed to work. Having said that he was represented by George Carman, the only barrister I can name from memory. That says something on its own. Was he as good at legal representation as Bob Massingbird though?

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