I’M sorry to have to admit this, but Joe Jordan has always irritated me. It’s that voice.
If you can recall that episode of Father Ted where the lads are desperately trying to find their way out of ‘Ireland’s largest lingerie section’, it’s Father Fitzgerald who saves the day by faking an announcement over the intercom.
“I have an awful dreary monotonous voice, God help me...”
A perfect role for Joe, judging by his time as a TV pundit for the Football Italia show. I used to turn the sound down when he was on, but to Joe’s credit he always got the Italian words right, including Milan of course – pronounced Mee-lan – as he spent two seasons there as a player.
It doesn’t seem that any colourful Italian expressions were required to wind up Rino Gattuso on Tuesday night. “Scottish” is how he describes the exchange – hence presumably that little Glasgow kiss at the end.
But Ringhio as he is affectionately known to the Italian media never needs much winding-up anyway.
Ringhio is the Italian for “I snarl”, and it’s that aggression – made in Calabria, honed in Scotland – that has made him unique among Italian midfielders, the most English of their players, and greatly valued by club and country alike as a result. He’s permanently on edge – when it’s controlled it’s one of his strengths – and with Milan’s midfield depleted he was putting himself about from the first whistle.
“Every time Milan won the ball it was as though there were trying to put a raft into the sea, only to have it carried back to shore by the waves,” was Luigi Garlando’s verdict in the Gazzetta dello Sport.
It’s not a new experience for Italian sides facing English opposition in the Champions League. They are vulnerable to pace and also lack the cup tie mentality in England. But very frustrating for Ringhio who is a player who has to impose himself to be effective.
Gattuso’s spokesman Claudio Pasqualin – known as the King of Agents in Italy – is suggesting the eruption was caused by Jordan effing and blinding on the touchline.
Gattuso, as you’d expect, is not looking for excuses — “I lost my head, I was wrong. There’s no justification for what I did” — and will probably accept whatever ban UEFA now decides to impose.
The most likely outcome is a short ban, plus two or three days suspended. The pity is that the violent assault by Mathieu Flamini that crippled Vedran Corluka won’t apparently be reviewed.
Flamini may have apologised after the game, but a tackle like that is a bigger menace than a bit of post-match petulance.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/FkM-RkU0q4k/post.aspx
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