With Tim Parks' new book out, should a thread be dedicated to them? There may be one on pages 2-3,4,5,6,7,8, etc. but seeing as how I'm too lazy, I thought a thread should be dedicated to the Veronese. Sean
Sadly they are struggling in Serie B, closer to the bottom than returing to the top flight...The book describes them as the favored team of Verona, but with Chievo having another big year in A that may be changing.... http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/btable.html
wow! surprised to see Napoli near the bottom, too. Anyway, are you talking about 'Season With Verona' or has he just written another book about them? Anyway, I found myself hurrying to finish that book for the sake of finishing it rather than trying to see if they would stay up in A.
same book. we had a discussion about it on this board some time ago. Some loved it, some think Parks is a pompous ass and a lunatic for supporting the notorious Veronese ultras. My Italian husband like it a lot, but I haven't read it myself; I loved Parks' - earlier stuff "Italian Neighbors" and "An Italian Education", but they're not about soccer (although the latter has some references since it took place during WC '94).
I'm in the middle of it right now. It's interesting, but not to the same scale as "The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro". That book I couldn't put down at some points. I think the difference are due to two things: 1) I'm much more familiar with Verona and the season he's talking about than I ever was about Castel Di Sangro. 2) Parks is British, and a life long football fan. McGuiness was not. I think some of McGuiness's giddiness on "discovering" the joys (and pains) of football, make it more interesting. I'm surprised by the level of drug use and racism amongst the fans, but I guess I'm just naive. Finally, one thing annoys me is that Parks, for some odd reason, takes some pot shots at Americans. In an intro page in the English edition he explains that the game he refers to is actually called soccer in the USA. Duh? Was that necessary? Then in a later chapter he says something like "It was obvious to anyone except an alien (or an American) that Crespo was a threat to score." Is that necessary?
I think the British just can't help themselves in that regard. I read The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, and although I liked it, McGuinness' ridiculous attempts to "advise" the coach on tactics and player selection - and his insistence on including that in the book without any suggestion that he possibly might not know as much as those guys! - were a real distraction from what was an incredible story on its own merits.