Diego Armando Maradona is mad. Yes, he wants to meet the President of Iraq and plans on getting a tattoo of Venezuelan supremo Hugo Chavez, but that’s not the form of the word I’m talking about. He’s angry because the guy he helped bring in to coach his beloved Buenos Aires club, Boca Juniors, Miguel Angel Russo, stepped down recently, when just days after losing the FIFA World Club Cup, Russo walked out of a meeting with Boca chief Pedro Pompilio refusing to fire his top two assistants.

The first names bandied around as his replacement were Gabriel Batistuta and Guillermo Barros Scheloto, who had both talked about getting into club management, but Boca have apparently settled on Carlos Ischia of Rosario Central, a former assistant to Carlos Bianchi when he coached at Boca Juniors. When asked about Ischia, by the Argentinean news agency Telam, Maradona responded, “I don’t like Ischia as coach. I don’t believe he would be the ideal choice for the team.” Why the problem? Both Ischia and Bianchi are close associates of Guillermo Coppolla, who was an advisor to Diego’s during his playing days and are both still bitter about their acrimonious split. Some in the Argentinian media are forecasting this as the first of many changes to the xeineixes, which may mean selling players, replacing the entire coaching staff, trainers, shifting tactics, and will more than likely signal the end of Diego Maradona’s influence at the club; but the key maybe the changing of the guard on the pitch.

Before the appointment there was some talk of Clemente Rodriguez of Espanyol coming back from Spain to help Riquelme, but it looks like a return to three at the back like Ricardo LaVolpe, and it might mean some of the problems that LaVolpe had with (amongst others) captain Martin Palermo in the dressing room. The experienced players have had a relaxed time at the club under Russo, Riquelme returning was a notch on their belt, but this is not what the player leadership expected or wanted. But the board believe that someone needs to pay for the loss to AC Milan, and if Russo wouldn’t fire his assistants, regardless of his winning the Copa Libertadores, then everyone under him and around him would be blamed.

All I can think of, if this marks a new turn to Boca Juniors, with the return of Bianchi as the kingmaker and the departure of Diego, will this lead to the selling of young players like Ever Banega and what of the field generals like Martin Palermo? Defender Juan Angel Krupoviesa has already been sold to Marseilles, the board has already mandated the selling of experienced players, and what then of temperamental genius Riquelme? A return to Spain, a move to Italy or England?

Mando from FF 

I’m sorry if it offends anyone, I was going to say Happy Holidays but I’ve always felt odd saying it, as if I was an outsider, but you know what, too bad. Last week was Hanukkah and next week will be Kwanzaa and the next time you know it’ll be Ramadan or Easter 0r Passover and I’m always conscious of my friend’s celebrations, and sometimes I’ll be honest that I’m going through the motions with my own, but this year I’m holding on for dear life. I’d tell you what my life is like, but it’d sound too much like a telenovela and you wouldn’t believe me. Needless to say if I had a truck and/or a dog, I’d sound like a Country and Western song.

But, even so I’m a spiritual person, a Catholic if you want to get me to open up some, my grandparents were from Salamanca, my allegiances are in Barcelona if you want a football context. RCD Espanyol yes, but if you look at our neighbors Barca : there’s a red and white cross on their badge. There’s a cross on the AC Milan badge, and the Parma shirt and there are at least 11 clubs in the top flight of Italy who have some sort of Christian symbolism to their heritage. No matter where you look, you are going to find a badge, a kit, or a flag that offends someone.

I’m aware of history, and the Crusades that split the world in two more than a thousand years ago, but the symbols that our football clubs are using, are cheap imitations, just shadows of their original meaning. Does anyone but a Milanista know that the cross on Milan’s badge and Inter’s shirt is NOT the St. George’s cross on the England shirt, but the crest of St. Ambrose who was the patron saint and first bishop of Milan? Does it matter that the same cross is on the royal seal of the Kingdom of Aragon in Spain that once ruled over parts of Spain and Italy?

Nah, I don’t care either. Frankly, what happened 500 to 1,000 or more years ago has little to do with what is happening today. These ancient images that people toss around have developed new contexts, new meanings, and in this case have more to do with the fact that Inter Milan beat a Turkish football team on the field, than what happened on a battlefield in Palestine in the 12th century. The Nerazzurri wore a slightly modified emblem of the city crest, one large red cross on a white background, and one particularly irate fan, a lawyer in fact, is suing the club for damages and one thousand years of social distress leading back to the Crusades. What he’s really angry with is the loss on the field, or else he wouldn’t be suing to get the result overturned.

I’m no fan of the past history of my Church, let alone the recent history, but no terrestrial institution is without fault. We could look at the socio-political and religious significance of the Fenerbahce crest, the Besiktas slogan, or the Galatasaray colors, and how they would be offensive to a Christian or a Jew, and yes I did research them, but it’s not important.

The cross, the crescent, the shield, the badge: all of these symbols have a Christian or Muslim or Jewish origin. Actually they were all symbols of pagan religions from centuries before monotheism, they were adapted to suit the needs of the new religion, and they have all changed over time. They will ALL offend someone at sometime or another. No one said this life would be freely inoffensive. Deal with it.
Merry Christmas.