They sold Kaká, but still kept the other senators on, even
if maybe they waited too long to phase them out. Then Pirlo was pushed out. But
last year, not coincidentally the same year Milan’s parent company, Fininvest,
was ordered to pay the largest fine in European history at a whopping €574
million, they cleaned house. Even still, it seemed like at least some of the
senators maybe controlled their own destiny. And while we were still watching
YouTube compilations of our favorite heroes, came the Thiago Silva and Ibra
saga: selling… not for sale… selling… then sold. As a fan, I really felt like
they took the last of my innocence on that one. But I was wrong. This week
alone, they pushed Ambrosini out, have openly admitted that El Shaarawy is not
secure at Milan, and publicly gave Montolivo the captaincy apparently without
even consulting Abbiati first. Despite the fact that the blood in my veins runs
red and black, Milan, I wish I could quit you.
Ambrosini’s agent was very graceful in saying that they knew
he wouldn’t be renewed, because if they were going to renew, they would have
done so a long time ago. I think we as fans knew, too, which is why I wrote a
sort of farewell
post to Ambrosini almost two weeks ago. I wanted to make sure he got a
proper sending off, something the club were not as thoughtful to do. But it was
Galliani’s own words that will forever haunt me on this one: “I apologize to Massimo once
again in case we hadn’t already told him the decision.” What the hell? What club doesn’t tell their captain, a bandiera who has been loyal to the club
for 18 years, that they are not renewing his contract, until they do it
publicly? (Unless you count Juventus’ treatment of Del Piero… but even then,
they at least gave him 8 months to find a new club.) So Galliani, you apologize “in
case” you hadn’t told him? And what of their reasoning? “At the end of the day age proved
more important than emotions.” So did his age just sneak up on you and therefore
you had to announce suddenly that he was gone? If age was really more important
than emotions, couldn’t you have seen fit to tell him before you told us?
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| "I could swear that they had my current contact info." |
But that wasn’t the
only surprise in this announcement yesterday. Abbiati will have read in the
papers that his captaincy was publicly usurped, too. “If Christian Abbiati agrees, then the next captain of Milan
will be Montolivo.” What the hell kind of management is this? I think there
might actually be less drama and backstabbing on those Real Housewives shows.
It’s not like Abbiati can refuse this now, because refusing a public
announcement like that would make him a bad captain. But he gets screwed over
for a player who has only been at the club for a year, when he has loyally
served the club for 15 years? (minus a few loan spells) What kind of management
does this to their club? What kind of management does this to their players?
For a club who as long as I can remember has determined its captaincy based on
seniority, this is as underhanded and manipulative as it gets. At least if they
were going to do this (which we kind of knew they were earlier this season when
Montolivo was given the armband ahead of others for a game or two,) couldn’t
they have the decency to handle it behind closed doors and then announce it? Isn’t a player who has been loyal to the club
deserving of a simple phone call?
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| "What more can I do to prove myself worthy of the armband?" |
Then on the same day
to say that El Shaarawy was not exactly off the market… what is this club
coming to? The players give their all. They sacrifice and train and dedicate
their lives and souls to the red and black, only to be sold off like pieces of
meat to line your corrupt pockets and balance your fine-laden books? To be cast
aside after nearly two decades of service, and apparently not even be worthy of
a phone call or even a text before you announce? To work and sacrifice for 15
years with no glory, only to have your captain’s armband given away like candy
from a clown to a hotshot player who makes more than twice as much as you and
gave up his captaincy and loyalty at his last club faster than a gambler can
feed quarters into a slot machine? Where is the tradition? The loyalty to
players? The loyalty to the paying fans? The so-called “Allegri-case” has
nothing compared to any one of these announcements. They seem to be lowering
the bar every week. And just when you don’t think they can go any lower, they
astonish with a loss of class that is completely unthinkable.
The lack of character, direction, and
decorum from management the past couple of years is incredibly appalling. But
these latest moves take the cake. Where is the commitment to the shirt, to the
Milan crest, to the history, to the fans? We fans save sometimes for years just
to make one pilgrimage to the San Siro, only to find that the players who were
on the roster when we bought our plane tickets are now at another club, because
management cannot manage their finances even as well as us? What about these players
who jumped through every hoop, bit their tongue at every poor choice of manager
and played in every kind of weather, year after year, only to be treated worse
than most employees at a local factory?
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| "They can't even say that when I'm in the same country? Vergogna." |
I am numb with shame. I cannot even
believe that this is my club anymore. I do not recognize the classy family that
drew me in, that gave me comfort in the shelter of their rich traditions and loyalty.
Now we have con artists running the show. Selling Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic
and bragging about how much they saved, promising me that the “champions” they
brought in instead in Acerbi and Traoré would prove their worth. They didn’t.
And neither did management. The only thing they’ve proven to me is that they
absolutely cannot be trusted. Not with my heart, and certainly not with my
club. They are so caught up in the stress of the economy and their own
corruption and bad financial mistakes, that they have forgotten the principles
that made this club so successful: Loyalty. Family. Class. Ideals that Ambrosini, Abbiati, and El Shaarawy all embody.
We may be well on our way to FFP
compliance, but it is not without a heavy cost. Our captain leaves after literally being sent off, being shoved out onto the street like yesterday's garbage. Our new would-be captain watches his armband be handed off to a glory-hunter in the media, and one of our most beloved and promising young players is put on the mercato auction block like a choice cut of beef. Someday, we may win more
trophies, maybe we'll have more success in the future. But without the very heart and soul
of the club which allowed us to be so successful so continuously, I don’t even
recognize my Milan anymore. Unfortunately, without a complete blood, heart, and
brain transfusion, I am still a Milanista, I don’t even have a choice in the
matter. So I will suffer alongside Ambrosini, Abbiati, El Shaarawy, and all of
the other players and fans. But sometimes, after a day like yesterday, I really
wish I could quit you, Milan.
This post inspired by the music of
Rammstein