Il tifoso italiano...

Over the years I have grown used to following the Warriors from a distance, but over the last year, living in Italy rather than England has made things more difficult than usual. This coming Saturday will be my first trip to Ochilview for 12 months, and this realisation prompted me to reflect on my football experiences during that time. It has been a turbulent year in Italian football; last summer’s match-fixing scandal was followed by a burst of hooligan activity reminiscent of England in the late 1980s. The image of the game has only really been kept afloat by the reflected glory of last summer’s World Cup win, so much so that Materazzi’s now-legendary headbutt seems to feature on Italian TV at least five times each evening. Their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, of course, hasn’t been quite so flawless; it was a pleasure to see Scotland leading the group for most of the year. Our defeat to the Italians in March has left things looking slightly less rosy, but somehow I still believe we will capitalise on the complacency in the Italian camp. My local side out here, AC Siena, are a sort of Italian version of Gretna: the minnows who play in black and white, and just don’t sound like they belong in the top flight. The only difference is that I do not become annoyed at the mere mention of Siena’s name, whereas the same cannot be said for Gretna. Oh, and Siena are not captained by Chris Innes. In any case, enough of this Italian nonsense. When I was watching Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the line for Inter against Siena, I’d much rather have been watching John Dempster. When I saw Esteban Cambiasso running onto the pitch, I’d happily have swapped him for Paul Tyrrell. This weekend, of course, I’m also looking forward to seeing all the new faces, with a great sense of anticipation. Judging from a distance, there are many reasons to be cheerful: Steven Hampshire is a proven striker, John Dillon always impressed me when playing against us, and we all know what Ross Hamilton has to offer when he’s at his best. I admit that, as last season drew to a close, I thought we would have problems in the transfer market. We had finished the season badly, and I thought this would make it difficult for Campbell to attract quality players. I am delighted to see how wrong I was. Campbell’s strategy seems entirely sensible: the squad is quite small, with backup provided by our excellent youths. The fact that we’re not signing players to sit on the sidelines means we can afford proven talent, despite hardly being Gretna in terms of finances. Quality rather than quantity is the way forward. So this Saturday I will be at Ochilview; I then fly back to Italy to complete the last 3 weeks of my job, most probably also taking in Siena’s games against Roma and Milan. But Serie A just doesn’t quite do it for me. Bring on the Shire!