Spalleti Resigns, Ranieri the Replacement-CONFIRMED

Rumours are flying that Roma tactician Luciano Spalletti has had his resignation accepted by the Roma board. In addition to the lack of options on the field, reports have surfaced of a rift between the coach and the players, namely that the players are no longer behind him. Roma's board have allegedly already had talks with Claudio "The Tinkerman" Ranieri, former Juventus and Chelsea coach, and an agreement is in place for him to succeed Spalletti.

This has now been confirmed, Ranieri officially replacing Spalletti as the Giallorossi manager.

Juventus Sack Rome

Juventus convincingly beat Roma 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico, courtesy of two goals from Diego and one from Felipe Melo.
This fixture has become something of a rivalry, with both clubs doing their best to embarrass the other. Totti famously irritated Juve with his 4-finger salute after a 4-0 win, and Juve have handed Roma some serious thrashings in recent years. Last year Juve recorded a 4-1 win at the Olimpico, and this year were tipped to beat Roma easily, given the Lupi's bad form and lack of significant reinforcements over the summer, but Roma were always going to put a lot of energy in to the fixture. Juve started the match with Diego in the hole behind Amauri and Iaquinta, who scored last week. Melo got his first start of the season for the Bianconeri, while Camoranesi, Del Piero, and Poulsen were all on the bench. Roma started with Julio Sergio, their 3rd choice goalkeeper between the sticks, but otherwise the Lupi lined up as expected, with Totti leading the attack. Juve started the better of the two sides, out-passing Roma, but Roma's tough tackling and energy made it very difficult for the Bianconeri to create clear opportunities. The referee's reluctance to hand out yellow cards meant that the tension in the match built of very quickly, with Roma players in particular guilty of some brutish tackles. Juve's quality started to show more and more, and Amauri was inches away from converting Iaquinta's excellent cross (he should give the Juve fullbacks some tips), and Sergio was called on to make an excellent save after Tiago headed on Diego's free kick. Juve were not to be denied though, and in the 25th minute Diego picked Cassetti's pocket, and set off the field. After racing away from Cassetti, Diego held off Riise's challenge, and flicked the ball in to the corner from the outside of his right foot, leaving Sergio no chance. It was an excellent way to announce his arrival in Serie A, and the Juve fans responded. However, Roma responded quickly, taking a free kick which took Juve unawares, got the ball quickly to De Rossi, who blasted a long-range dipping shot past Buffon and under the bar. Juve responded well, with Amauri being denied by a diving Sergio save and the post. Juve continued to press, but Roma sprang on the counter, and Buffon had to perform a brilliant save after Totti had been sent through by Menez. At the half, Tonetto replaced Taddei, but this didn't bring any improvement from Roma. Amauri again got free, but his left-footed shot was right at Sergio. The angle wasn't great, but Amauri should have done better. Claudio Marchisio was eventually forced off from a toe injury, and was replaced by Camoranesi, promptly lowering the odds on a sending off. Juve were still the better team, and when Iaquinta's nifty back-heel sent Diego through, the Brazilian bamboozled Mexes with a couple step-overs and smashed the ball in to the far corner. Vucinic was thrown on to replace Riise, and Roma started to be far more dangerous. Legrottagli was put in for De Ceglie, and Chiellini was moved to LB to make room for Legro. Roma continued to press higher up the pitch, as Juve were unable to relieve the pressure. Totti smashed a slightly-deflected drive off the post, Buffon rooted to the spot, and Menez and De Rossi also wasting promising opportunities. Goal-hero Diego was taken off for Poulsen, as Juve strengthened the midfield. Roma were unable to make their pressure tell though, and in the end it was debutant Felipe Melo, winning the ball in midfield, who strode up the field and smashed a left-footed shot in to the right corner, to seal the win for the Bianconeri.

Inter leave Rossoneri black and blue

Inter Milan spanked an abject Milan 4-0, in Milan's "home" match. Wesley Sneijder surprisingly started for Inter, with Huntelaar on the bench for Milan.

Inter settled relatively quickly, Sneijder's rocket forcing a good stop from Storari, and in the 28th minute an excellent passing move from Inter sliced through Milan's static defence, and Thiago Motta curled a perfect left-foot finish past Storari. Inter were dominating, as Milan couldn't string together more than 2 passes at a time. Minutes later, Maicon's excellent long pass sent Eto'o in on goal, and as he cut across Gattuso he was brought down. The referee awarded the penalty, but only gave Gattuso a yellow card, despite him being the last defender. Four minutes later, Gattuso made up for that however, with a stupid lunge on Sneijder (even while Seedorf was preparing to come on for him!) leaving the referee no choice but to send him off. In stoppage time , Maicon and Milito played a nice one-two, with Maicon finishing well to make it 3-0.
For the second half, Leonardo tried to alter the proceedings by bringing on Seedorf and Ambrosini for Borriello and Flamini, but it was to no avail. While Seedorf did his best to create something from Milan, only Pato replicated his efforts, and eventually the disappointing Ronaldinho was replaced by Huntelaar. However, Inter continued to control the game, Sneijder taking his usual long-range shots (although they weren't as consistently dangerous as usual) but it was Stankovic who scored Inter's last goal with a long-range shot that he blasted in to the top right corner, leaving Storari absolutely no chance. Milan were dead and buried, and while Huntelaar had a couple good chances, his finishing let him down, and Milan didn't have any sort of consolation on a night when everything went wrong for them. Leonardo must be wondering what the hell he's gotten himself in to, and Berlusconi wishes he'd stayed in bed with his latest bella ragazza. Meanwhile, Mourinho was so happy after the match he didn't even mention Juventus!

Mourinho vs. Lippi: Jerk or Genius?

I don't think that many football fans out there would deny that Mourinho is interesting, funny, intelligent, and a rather good coach. He also has a knack for courting controversy, and clearly enjoys the attention and anger he often stirs up. In some cases though, one must wonder exactly what he is trying to accomplish.
In attacking Marcelo Lippi over a routine and mundane prediction (last year no one noticed or cared when Lippi predicted Inter would win the Scudetto) Mourinho has grabbed the media spotlight and focused it firmly on himself. After all, Mourinho is surely far too intelligent to actually believe that Lippi meant anything disrespectful in his comments. Lippi isn't a figure that is universally beloved, but he is someone who is very well-respected in the football community. Why attack him? Perhaps this is symptomatic of Mourinho's intense ego and desire to always be at the center of attention, or, he might be trying to lessen the pressure on an Inter squad that generally doesn't perform as well under intense pressure. Certainly this latest episode supports those that have said that Mourinho himself has absolutely no respect for other figures in the footballing world, even while he frequently complains that he himself doesn't receive sufficient respect. While Mourinho can be entertaining, and his put-downs amusing regardless of his position, surely a point will be reached when it becomes apparent that Mourinho is the person that shows a complete lack of respect to the rest of the footballing world, not Lippi or most of the other personages that have been at the end of his cutting remarks. His supporters argue (correctly) that he's an excellent coach, and that everything he does is for the benefit of the team, despite coming across as pure ego. However, if his purchase of Quaresma didn't prove that not everything he does is for the benefit of the team, then surely this out-of-the-blue blast at Lippi shows that Mourinho's ego is the most important thing for him, not the team he's coaching.