Yep. It just kind of happened but Fiorentina are a good team, sort of the underdogs that still prove they can play with the big boys. Good players and a great manager.
Visited Firenze when I was six with my family and begged my dad to take me to a game. Don't remember much about the match itself but I do remember the noise; I had never been in a place with so many people in it at the same time before.
Batistuta, Rui Costa, and, later, Totti were my idols growing up. When our financial difficulties became increasingly apparent at the turn of the century, we sold Batigol to Roma for a pot of money, and they subsequently gave him the Scudetto we never could. He hated leaving us but he deserved to win Serie A just once in his career, so for that alone, Roma too hold a special place in my heart.
By the same token, the man who led Roma to that title, Fabio Capello, can fuck off.
Cesare Prandelli, the Fiorentina manager, is an affable, classy fellow, the sort of manager people want to play for, and not just because his teams play good football, either. His wife Manuela died of cancer nearly two years ago--and this is just conjecture--but it seems to me that he is more sober these than he ever used to be (understandably). Love him, love him, love him.
The supporters of most teams with a director of football invariably hate him but ours, Pantaleo Corvino, is basically a genius. Even the Felipe Melo deal is good business, despite us selling him to our mortal enemies Juve (though keeping him from Arsenal helps Liverpool). This time last year, no one knew who he was, having played for Almeria in Spain after bouncing around in Brazil, and a number of our supporters didn't even want him because of the other players we already had in his position; now he starts in midfield for Brazil and his sale has added over 20m to our coffers, money that will likely be reinvested.
Of course, being a Brazilian defensive midfielder who can pass and plays for Fiorentina was always going to get you noticed by Dunga so...
