BatiGol Weekly 76: Let’s start a riot

Evening (or morning), everyone. Glad you could all make it. You’re probably wondering why I’ve called you all here tonight and asked everyone to bring their torches and pitchforks. Well, I’ll cut straight to the chase. We’re 48 hours into the transfer window, and Fiorentina doesn’t have any new players.

So what are we going to do about this? Well, we’ve got a two options. The first is to trust that Pantaleo Corvino, the semi-legendary DS, will build a team full of savvy veterans and promising youngsters as he always does. That sounds like a logical decision, and, as fans, the one we should desperately avoid.

I’m advocating for the second option. Now, now, hear me out. We, as fans, deserve certain rights. And if we live in a world where one of those rights isn’t raising an unruly mob for no reason at all, well, I don’t think I want to be a part of that world. So let’s do some shouting, light some torches, brandish some household implements, and form ranks as we march to the Franchi.

So, let’s set out in orderly fashion. Don’t want anyone getting hurt while we’re unruly mobbing, and those torches can give you a nasty burn.

Latest news

The silly season is open, so get ready for a crock full of rumors. We’ll start way back on Wednesday with the news that Federico Chiesa and Ianis Hagi are both in line for contract extensions, which we like very much.

Then Federico Bernardeschi slammed the door on leaving Florence in January, which we liked even more.

And to one-up that, we learned that Corvino is working on inserting a massive buyout clause in Berna’s contract.

Remember how Milan Badelj was super seriously moving to AC Milan? Yeah, his agent has now done a full one-eighty on that one. What a dolt.

Fiorentina are keeping tabs on Romanian striker Florin Andone. Last time one of those came to town, it worked out okay.

Velez Sarsfield have Hernan Toledo on their radar. And maybe also Sasquatch, the Wampus Cat, and various other cryptozoological beasts just like him.

Stevan Jovetic is definitely leaving Inter Milan. He’s almost just as definitely not returning to Florence.

Nikola Kalinic ain’t moving to China, and it feels pretty good to stick something in Fabio Cannavaro’s spokes.

A temporary move away might be just what Luca Lezzerini needs to wash the taste of catastrophe on his mouth, and it sounds like it might happen.

Our WTF bureau has discovered someone who thinks that the Viola are planning a swoop for Sunderland’s Seb Larsson, which, uh, sure, yeah, whatever you say, crazy internet person.

Must read

Your friendly neighborhood Viola Nation staff have their respective retrospectives on the first half of the season.

We’ve also got midseason grades for everyone who’s made a competitive appearance for Fiorentina this year, and even a couple of dudes who haven’t.

Finally, we’ll end on a bit of a sad note. JSE1926 is stepping down from his editorial duties, which is really a bummer for all of us who were and are big fans.

Comment of the week

Blog boss emeritus and resident grouchy uncle slakas had nice things to say about JSE1926. It felt a little weird for slakas not to be yelling at the kids to get off his lawn, but that makes it all the more poignant.

That’s it for this week, folks. Strap in for what’s going to be another week of absurd rumors and maybe even a little football.