Zenga Sets Himself Up For The Fall

As press conferences go, Walter Zenga's first as Palermo manager was pretty entertaining, in a 'ha-ha' sort of way: if his initial "I have a squad brimming with important players and I'm aiming for the league title" made you smile then his follow-up "I'm convinced that between myself and Maurizio Zamparini (Palermo's owner) there will never be any problems of any kind" will certainly have cracked you up.

As a manager, Zenga has always been refreshingly honest; a likeable man conscious of his limitations but at the same time eager to prove those who doubt and deride him (of which there are many) wrong.

Yet suddenly here he is coming out with these brash comments that are bound to do him no favours and, if anything, will simply pile up the pressure on himself and his players. Could it be that he's auditioning for the Inter job that he so much desires by imitating that other well known stand-up comedian, Jose Mourinho?

He's certainly placing himself into a villain's role.

Late last month, Zenga was surprisingly announced as Palermo's new boss. That surprise wasn't exclusively down to the fact that his name hadn't featured among those rumoured to be in the running for the job but rather because of his previous employers: Palermo's Sicilian neighbours and bitter rivals Catania. Indeed the move fuelled more than a little bitterness at Catania who felt that the man whom they'd given the chance to kick-start his managerial career in Italy when everyone thought he was joke owed it to them not to move to their hated neighbours.

Yet, from Zenga's point of view, the argument is a bit different. Whilst Catania did take a gamble on him, he repaid them by first leading the club to an improbable escape from relegation and then through a fairly comfortable season. His dues had been paid. More so when fans started to vociferously criticise his teams towards the end of last season when results started to tail away.

It was a reaction that visibly stung Zenga who publicly voiced his frustration at such behaviour. It was at that point that his relationship with the fans broke and his days at the club became numbered.

Even so the move to Palermo was unexpected. Yet, at the same time, it is quite a step up for Zenga who at Catania had taken the team as high up as possible and now gets an opportunity to work with a better squad of players.

Not that this justifies his 'scudetto' claims. Asked about the scudetto, star striker Fabrizio Miccoli showed that he too can crack a joke by replying "sure, if we get Padre Pio (an Italian saint) in goal and Jesus upfront. I'm sure he'd bang a lot of goals!".

The truth is that Palermo have a couple of very good players - Marco Amelia and Miccoli himself in particular - and a decent squad that should be good enough to aim for a European spot. Anything above that, however, is daydreaming. But, evidently, that's what Zenga is doing. Especially if he believes that he won't have any problems with the notoriously brash Zamparini.

How to handle him will be Zenga's biggest challenge and motivation. For Zamparini is a man easily annoyed and Zenga can expect very little sympathy from him if his teams either dont' deliver the level of football he expects or the manager says something that he doesn't agree to. That other promising managers like Francesco Guidolin and Stefano Collantuono saw their career prospets crumble after coming into touch with Zamparini should have served as a warning to Zenga not to move to Palermo.

Instead, as with other warning signs, he's chosen to disregard it. Now he has to show whether he can really deliver somthing close to what he is promising. If not, then he can rest assured that he won't come out of this laughing.

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