Il Toro, and the Disquietude of Pessoa.

By: Ben | May 8th, 2009

Much has happened since I’ve last written; it’s been too long and such an absence again is not due to my loss of interest in Bologna but rather to the demands of work and the importance of making that paycheck.

The Rossoblu have once again fallen into the relegation zone with a streak of uninspired and disjointed performances. In our last five games we have fallen to Roma (arguably a questionable encounter lost to two questionable penalties by a questionable performance from the iconic Francesco Totti), Siena, and Palermo; miraculously the Emiliani galloped past a sleepy and somewhat complacent Genoa only to be humiliated by last-placed Reggina at the Stadio Dall’Ara last weekend.

Sinisa was promptly disposed of after the loss to Siena and subsequently after thorough contemplation the misfiring synapses of president Francesca Menarini scooped a pile of canine turd off the sidewalks of Tuscany in the form of Giuseppe Papadopulo and promoted it to the ranks of new manager and savior of Bologna Football Club. Yes the flies nest of canine excrement did manage to prestigiously fool three points away from Genoa, thereby prompting himself to make the bold statement that his club will now play with the same tenacity of Manchester United…which then resulted in a 2-1 loss to the steamrolling miscreants of Reggina.

What would prompt our fair president to appoint such a brazen derelict to the throne? God only knows; for if you appoint a Serie B manager such as canine feces or Giuseppe Papadopulo, your product will most definitely be Serie B performances. Sinisa may have not been leading the team through it’s best period of form at the time of his dismissal yet changing the manager at such a crucial point of the season seemed to me a bit rash; as did the replacement.

Next week we take on another club in dire straits, the once great Toro, the other team of Turin who seems unable to reclaim its past glories, still mourning the loss of its past champions in the Superga tragedy of 1949.

Il Toro sit just one point above the watermark and with Reggina and Lecce both facing difficult matches against Sampdoria and Napoli respectively, a win would be crucial (as would three points against Reggina have been). An opportunity for a bit of breath and moment to state our stake in salvation. Only Sunday will tell if we will climb out of the inferno or continue to stagnate in disquietude. Here I leave you with an excerpt from Fernando Pessoa.

“A breath of music or of a dream, of something that would make me also feel, something that would make me not think.” – Fernando Pessoa – The Book of Disquietude

For me Mr. Pessoa, this something would be la salvezza. Forza Bologna!

Probable formations: