Little Italy

As everyone else I was dumbfolded by the Cellino stuff, and I have no idea if it’s the biggest scam around (a daunting task for any rumour) or the real deal.
Stories in Corriere dello Sport, la Repubblica, and Tuttomercato (that started all this), as well as the English ripoffs of these articles, says that Cellino is actually ready to bid and that he wants it done fast.
But I’ll leave that for now as there are just too many uncertanties, time will tell. I’ll also leave it to them to tell you about the Zola/Cellino connections if you haven’t heard about those already.

But let’s just toy with the idea that he comes in and have approximately the same financial muscle as, for instance, G&S.

Would it be to West Hams advantage to have an Italian owner?

I’m certainly not a xenophobic in the sense that I think that Brittish football should be left to be handled by Brittish managers and coaches. On the contrary, the imput of new ways of thinking and playing football has certainly been a major factor in developing the PL to have three teams in the last four in the Champions league last year. But I’d say it has been the successful mix of players and coaches with different background that has made that possible (and borrowed money of course). That is also one of the reasons that I was pleased when Clarke (and Keen) was appointed first team coach.

I think we have already seen some of the dissadvantages of focusing the attention in one direction. Gianluca Nani and Zola seem to have their binoculars pointed in much the same direction, giving us Diamanti, Behrami, Da Costa and Franco, but also Jimenez, DiMichele, Tristan and Savio. There is nothing strange with this! People will use their trusted contacts when doing business and with a background in Italy it’s only natural that you have those there. With an Italian owner we may not get the needed tug in another direction.
On the other hand, I’d rather have a Zola at the helm in a team where he has the trust of the owner. G&S for instance may not see Zola as the answer to our problems.
Do I? No I don’t see him as being a successful manager in a low budget team needing to play according to their limited recourses, but I’d love to see him given the economic chance to fulfil his dream. Preferrably with us.

The opposite is also scary! English owners known for their conservative view on football and an English manager with limited funds going after overprised English players and surrounding him with Academy.