Do Roma Need A Roman?

The Giallorossi are battling out in three competitions for some much needed silverware as the latest gossip mulling over the capital outfit runs around the streets. Rumor has it that the club is facing a prospect of a takeover by Americans, since the mother company of the Sensis –Italipetroli has huge debts. Takeover, the fascinating hobby implying a great commercial value made famous by none other than Mr. Roman Abramovich when he bought Chelsea in 2003. Chelsea were labeled as one of the many London clubs to merely fill up the numbers in the premiership, but Mr. Russian billionaire has changed all of that. Apart from making Chelsea a silverware winning team, the money he has churned out of the team is enormous making it a selling product in the market. From then on, it caught the fantasy of other rich boys and there were numerous takers for football clubs. Manchester Utd,Man City, Liverpool, Villa, Portsmouth , West Ham are some of teams that have seen takeovers, some amidst the displeasure of fans, but the turn of fate some teams have had among the lot is fairy tale stuff. As the takeover mania dies down slowly in the British Isles it proceeds to the peninsula down south. Serie A has some big clubs with rich owners the examples of the Milans, Juventus etc. Clubs rich in tradition and the Italians have great pride for their clubs, the owners and the football they follow as religion. Now when we talk about Roma we talk about a club that has all the ingredients to win major silverware yet they lack something. 1 or two players may be, the availability of extra funds may be, that could lead them to mount or dominate the league. It could all change with the takeover. It isn’t as easy as it sounds because for Italians nothing matters more than their pride. Seeing their beloved clubs in the hands of foreigners could spark riots in the streets of Testaccio. The Roman public are hard to convince or please and the football team has come under the wrath of the public many a time. But the scene in the office at the Olimpico is not as merry as it looks. The Sensis risk huge losses which would be indebted to the football club and it could lead to such an unsurprising story which has happened before in recent history. Parma AC’s story is a chilling reminder of how things can go really bad in football. Rocked by financial irregularities in their mother company Parmalat, the club was forced to sell their top players so that they could avoid administration. Parma are not going to reach where they were in the foreseeable future. Even clubs like Fiorentina, Napoli and Lazio have been hit by crisis storms and have just managed to pull through. The American takeover could be a savior in disguise to the lupi and most importantly could make them stronger contenders for silverware. Roma have not purchased big name players recently and often you hear Totti egging on this fact. The days when Roma bought Batistuta or Nakata at sky high prices could come back and the football club could take many forward strides.

The take of the locals on this story is that takeovers happen merely for personal monetary purposes. But Mr. Roman Abramovich has showed that money can build a strong team and with the right man in charge silverware can be won. At the end of the day it’s on the Sensis, as they’ll take a decision in the best interests for Roma and its fans. Goal.com wants to know what you think. Should the loyals of the curva sud stick with the Sensis during their rough times or swallow their pride and allow a foreign invader to rule their beloved club?