A number of places online are blindly citing Italian outlet Il Tempo this morning in the usual fashion, happy to have a hook upon which to hang their rumour hat. But if you take a look at the source article, it gets worse.
The story doing the rounds is that a loan with a view to buy Paulinho offer had been made by AS, and rebuffed by Spurs. The purpose of this was to allow Paulinho’s contract to wind down and so make him more affordable to the Italians.
But the article goes a little further. The suggestion is that the Brazilian is not just unhappy at The Lane, but he doesn’t feel suited to the league itself, and isn’t that crazy about London. Add to this that even Europa League football is now looking unilkely.
Other obvious factors to consider are that Paulinho signed in the belief that Bale was going to be a teammate and that Villas-Boas was going to be his manager. Now he’s playing alongside Nabil Bentaleb and being “coached” by a St Alban’s rude boy.
Will Paulinho make good his escape? It Tempo say that Baldini vetoed the approach.
There is another piece on the same site, reporting that Erik Lamela had recently popped into the i Giallorossi dressing room, accompanied by one of our medical team. This visit appears to have been innocuous enough, and consisted of a few “how’s it going?” and the odd “golly, I’ve been unlucky on the old injury front, eh?”
Baldini must be looking at the situation and asking himself, how Levy & Co. are still viewing his role as a tenable appointment. The collapse of the playing style, the virtual impossibility of even second string European football, the players being mismanaged by a total novice…
I get no pleasure from witnessing this mess, but a mess it is.
If Tim has managed to lose the respect of Sandro (which really isn’t up for debate), arguably the biggest character in the squad, then it is hardly a leap to suggest the dressing room is equally lost.
Last coordinates; entering the Borehamwood Triangle.
