Officially
gone is the beloved/hated tradition of Galliani Day™. It used to be that the
last day of the mercato belonged to him. Long gone are his “Fine
as we are” declarations. No more “There are three days of the Condor,
and I always strike.” Now our mercato is decided largely at the beginning of
the transfer window, and fans are not left starving for improvements. So this
transfer window officially marks the end of days… or at least the end of
Galliani Day™.
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| His practices were more than a little archaeic |
There was
a time, apparently before motorized vehicles, that Galliani was considered a
shrewd negotiator, and he would often wait until the final day of the market
and make one or more signings. Not sure if it was the last minute reward for
the fans or the unexpected signings, but no one ever cared that he signed them
to long contracts and with high wages. So what seemed like a deal in the long
run weakened the club and its pocketbook. In effect, thought Galliani Day™
appeared to be something to celebrate, these signings were actually slowly
destroying the club.
Enter
Fassone and Mirabelli. While granted, they had months of head start to scout
players while the club sale was delayed, they came, they saw, they bought.
Eleven signings, most done within the first weeks of the transfer window
instead of giving fans heart attacks.
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| The Curva have already named Fassone and Mirabelli as the most important signings of the season |
Their
purchases were shrewd, careful, and bought as a team rather than just
indidviduals. They’ve committed to spend over €230m, but this summer have spent
less than €60m, making those purchases much more affordable. The payments owed
for players on loan or payment plans are wisely balanced over the next few
years. While the wages may be larger than those for players we had previously,
they are commensurate with the skills and experience levels of those players,
rather than structured to give a big paycheck to agents. How refreshing.
But it’s
not just the effectiveness and the professionalism with which they conducted
the transfers, which has rapidly gained them the respect of other clubs who are
more willing to do business with them. It’s also the transparency. Instead of
Galliani trying to be all secretive and offer fans a “surprise” of signing a player
like Matri, Fassone and Mirabelli have been completely transparent. If a
player is coming to Milan for medicals, they have the official sites post pics
and news all along the way. They don’t say the player is signed, but they let
fans know the player is flying in, they are having medicals, etc. And when it
was time to sign the contract, they post video live on Facebook of the contract
signing for all the world to see. What an amazing difference.
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| The now legendary Triple Handshake |
In
keeping in line with that transparency, Fassone and Mirabelli will be going
live after the mercato closes at 11pm to talk about the mercato. Their practice
of valuing the fans and keeping all of us informed honestly and openly has
already been paying dividends. Not only are fans obsessively loyal to the new management,
but ticket and merchandise sales are climbing quickly. No more bicycles, no
more condors, no more Galliani Day™. In fact, the level of transparency is so
unbelievable, it really does feel like the end of days.
This post inspired
by the word transparency