Last week marked a lot of changes at Milan. With the CAS
overturning our European ban, then the shareholders’ meeting confirming the
takeover by Elliott as well as changing the board, it marked the beginning of a
whole new era for the club. But don’t expect it to be all sunshine and roses.
Elliott have made it clear that they are not here for the fans. Their goal is a
three year plan to rehabilitate Milan financially, with the goals of returning
Milan to its glory as a secondary concept, and then only to support the first.
So as fans, we need to be ready for the detox, withdrawals, and all of the
other awful things that come with rehab.
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| It's gonna be hell |
Following the successful appeal of our ban, Elliott released
this statement:
"Elliott is pleased that we were able to support AC
Milan at the CAS and that our intervention was able to achieve a positive
result for the club. Playing in Europe is part of the heritage of AC
Milan and to have been excluded would have been a shame. We will now work hard
to rebuild the credibility of the club with UEFA and show that we can succeed
on the pitch while respecting UEFA FFP rules. Today's legal victory is an
important first step in the rehabilitation of AC Milan. This rehabilitation
will not be an overnight project, and there is a great deal of hard work ahead
which Elliott is ready for".
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| Former Vicenza president and successful businessman, Scaroni to lead the board of directors |
Their plans are quickly taking shape. After putting in Paolo
Scaroni as president of the board, they also fired Fassone. Who will replace
him as CEO has reportedly been identified, but not announced. The media have
linked the job to former Milan director Umberto Gandini. Which would be a nice
fit, but he is currently the CEO of Roma, so this could take some time. He is
also involved with UEFA, so that could be part of the motivation to bring him
in – so he can help us repair our relationship with UEFA.
However another name keeps coming up for the job: Ivan Gazidis.
He is currently the CEO of Arsenal. The newest reports in the media are that
Milan could actually hire them both – Gandini over the footballing matters and
Gazidis over the financial matters. Because, you know, that worked so well with
Galliani and Barbara Berlusconi. But this is rehab, and it could be more like
being in rehab with a veterinary staff… I mean they’re all doctors, right?
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| Coming home? |
The media is completely certain that Leonardo will be the
next technical director of Milan. In fact, they’re reporting he’s already begun
working, despite no announcement as of this writing. Not only would his
appointment anger the fans after his betrayal of the club, but it calls into
question his history as a technical director. He brought in some good players,
but overall was not particularly successful. It also again creates two-tier
leadership where there should probably be one clear voice. Mirabelli still
remains as the sporting director, but there are reports he’ll also be out of a
job shortly and a new sporting director hired. Which begs the question: who is
in charge of transfers, etc.? Who makes the calls? If it’s not clear to the
fans, then is it clear to those in the actual positions?
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| Leonardo is not a fan favorite |
It’s difficult to trust that Elliott are making the right
moves for Milan, given they’ve never run a football club before. Whereas they
seem to be doing some of their homework and at least selecting people who mean
something to Milan, the possibility of two CEOs and splitting the sporting
director and technical director roles is alarming, given our history. Let’s
hope the reports are false and that they create a structure that can at least
rehabilitate us financially and restore some value to the club. And while they
will need to achieve a level of sporting success to accomplish their
objectives, it may not be with the players and decisions fans want to see. Whatever
the choices they make, we know there is still going to be some pain. Kind of
like being in rehab.
This post inspired by the music of The
Cranberries’ “Salvation”
Our next match is
a friendly
AC Milan vs. Manchester United
Wednesday, July 25th
• 8:00pm PDT
at the StubHub
Center in Los Angeles, CA, USA