Berlusconi: is AC Milan club falling apart?

Monday, 17 March 2014. After a resounding 2-4 defeat at home against the humble Parma, AC Milan show all their weaknesses as the president Silvio Berlusconi point the finger against his long-time friend Galliani, ex-iconic player Carlo Maldini slams the team's management and Mario Balotelli (apparently) bangs Internazionale's player's grilfriend.

Parma FC players – among them AC Milan's reject Antonio Cassano – would have never dreamed of beating the rossoneri in San Siro, a few months ago, but now, as everybody seem to be able to beat Berlusconi's team (not only Atletico Madrid), things are different and the 2-4 win doesn't sound so uncanny. But still, AC Milan's fans did not take it well, and started to stage a protest.

Silvio Berlusconi and AC Milan's trophies
on an old photo from the times when the club was a successful team.

“[New coach] Seedor is not the problem” declared Silvio Berlusconi – who handpicked the Dutch after sacking Massimiliano Allegri - in a quick interview, “there are no discussions, he will be here next year as well”. Berlusconi's stubbornness is pretty well known in Italy, the supporter might be tempted to wait and see, instead of tackling head on the Cavaliere.

Berlusconi's AC Milan gets rid of head coach Allegri, following heavy defeat and Barbara Berlusconi's critics

Monday, 13 January 2014. Barbara Berlusconi's call for “urgent change” after yesterday's defeat of Berlusconi-owned football club AC Milan results in the sacking of head coach Allegri.

It's in the news that Silvio Berlusconi never really liked the 47-year-old Massimiliano Allegri a Livorno-born coach brought in by Adriano Galliani, CEO of AC Milan, long time friend and business partner, one of the most loyal men of the former prime minister of Italy.

A victorious Barbara Berlusconi, AC Milan's CEO (one of the CEOs, actually)

The casus belli for the firing of the manager? A bombastic Sunday evening 4-3 defeat by bottom of the table Sassuolo (the side is just one point away from the relegation zone), with Sassuolo's four goal all coming from 19-year-old Domenico Berardi. What a shame for one of the most successful football team in the world, following yesterday’s loss the team is stuck in 11^th place with 22 points only, 30 points away from leader of the table Juventus.

Berlusconi splits AC Milan's CEO post to please both his daughter and his friend Galliani

Saturday, 30 November 2013. Nope, Adriano Galliani will not leave AC Milan, and the football club team owned by Silvio Berlusconi will have two General Manager, Galliani and Barbara Berlusconi.

Silvio Berlusconi (left) watching an AC Milan's  football  game with the
one of the club's CEOs' Adriano Galliani (right), and friend Flavio Briatore (centre, of course)

AC Milan's CEO Adriano Galliani was “seriously damaged” by the allegations made by the club's owner's daughter – Barbara Berlusconi – about his incapacity of creating a winning team and keep the books in order. 

And he was so cross about the situation that he released an interview saying he was about to leave the football club, after more than 27 years. But a Solomonic Silvio Berlusconi decided to try and make peace between the two, invited the friend for dinner in his villa in Arcore, and gave a sop to (apparently) both contender...

Berlusconi's friend and AC Milan's CEO is going to leave the club, as he has been turfed out by Barbara Berlusconi

Friday, 29 November 2013. AC Milan's vice president and CEO Adriano Galliani leaves the football team owned by Silvio Berlusconi, due to Barbara Berlusconi harsh criticism.

“I suffered a serious damage”, said Adriano Galliani, good old friend and business partner of Silvio Berlusconi, saying that the “generational replacement” within the team AC Milan should be done, but it has been carried out without the “duly elegance”.

Adriano Galliani and Barbara Berlusconi, at a football match

His problem is none the less than Berlusconi daughter, Barbara Berlusconi, even though her name is not on the lips of the visibly cross manager. “I went to Madrid this summer to take Kaka without an appointment” said Galliani in an interview today, “and as I went in August 2010 to take Ibrahimovic Barcelona president Rosell returned from vacation he had planned on purpose, with his whole family.”.

Nobody understands why such an internationally admired manager has been being treated in this way, is the point. Even Chelsea manager (an former Inter Milan's coach) Jose Mourinho said that “Galliani is the most important manager of AC Milan”.

Barbara Berlusconi to revolution AC Milan (with a little help from her father Silvio)?

Saturday, 9 November 2013. Barbara Berlusconi seems to be taking control of AC Milan, as her father Silvio meets Vice President of the team for lunch at Arcore's Villa San Martino, possibly to kiss him goodbye.

Barbara Berlusconi: taking over?

AC Milan season hasn't been a triumphal march so far: the football team is ranking 11^th in the Italian Serie A table, the side have won only one of the five matches played in the Champions League so far (last week Barcelona beat them 3-1) and the talented striker Mario Balotelli has tuned out to be more of a nuisance than a winning goal scorer, collecting much more yellow cards than goals (the ratio is a disheartening 9:5).

That's why a take over of the club might be under way by Silvio Berlusconi's family, more precisely by his daughter Barbara Berlusconi (a member of the board of directors since 2011). The coup could lead to the axing of vice-president (loyal man and good old friend of the former Italian prime minister) Adriano Galliani, head coach Massimiliano Allegri, problematic player Mario Balotelli, and god only knows who else.

Berlusconi, the Italian Judiciary and the Sicilian Mafia

Saturday, February 23, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi breaches the electoral silence just to declare that he reckons Sicilian Mafia is less dangerous than Italian Judiciary. Or the other way around.

«The Italian Judiciary is a Mafia, they are more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia,» says Silvio Berlusconi, on a day when political issues are banned from the media by the “Electoral Silence Rule”. Another quip destined to find a place amongst Berlusconi's quotes.

Berlusconi greets Galliani, as he arrives to Milanello on his helicopter,
in order to spur AC Milan and slam Italian Judiciary

Actually it looks like a “premeditated scoop”, as usual, since a friendly journalist put the right question to the former Italian prime minister, totally out of context (Silvio was in “Milanello”, where he arrived on a helicopter, in order to greet AC Milan's player, on the eve of the Milan's derby against FC Internazionale).

«And I say it» will follow on the ineffable Silvio «knowing to say something huge». Result: Silvio get headlines everywhere (starting from our blog, sigh! :-( ).

Some might wonder about the ranking within Silvio Berlusconi's scales of values, where Italian Judiciary seem to score less than Sicilian Mafia, and dictator Benito Mussolini seems to enjoy quite some credit, from the right-wing politician.

Here's the script of the interview... pardon, the monologue of Silvio Berlusconi in Milanello (you can find the video on our YouTube channel):

«...because here in Italy, I have been attacked in connection with the bunga-bunga, which is an operation of deception, defamation, which is supported by nothing. In fact nothing came out of it. They made 150,000 telephone interceptions. Without discovering a single crime. And continue with the proceedings, which have been reported by all foreign newspapers, where the judiciary is a serious matter whereas here in Italy it's a Mafia, more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia. And I say it knowing to say a big thing.». A big thing, and not really a funny one, Mr Berlusconi!

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Silvio Berlusconi and the “bad apple” in his team

Wednesday, January 30, 2013. After being slammed as “bad apple” by AC Milan's owner Silvio Berlusconi only a couple of weeks before, footballer Mario Balotelli wears the red-and-black shirt for the first time.

Super Mario Balotelli

Former striker of Inter Milan and Manchester City and Italian National football team's player Mario Balotelli is  travelling to Milan today, as hundreds of texts and tweets anticipated in the previous days.

A jubilant Barbara Berlusconi – member of AC Milan's board of directors and Silvio Berlusconi's daughter – declared to Italian news agency ANSA how the team could manage to make a major hit by acquiring from British football club Manchester City the talented Mario Balotelli, while her father – in mid January – said that the young striker was a “rotten apple” (alluding to the young talent's sometimes problematic behaviour) who could "infect any group or team, even AC Milan" and there was no interest in him.

Silvio: "Rotten apple"

In Silvio's words: "No one from my club has held any talks with him, and neither [Vice Executive President and CEO Adriano] Galliani nor I has identified him as a transfer target.". The AC Milan's management seemed also wary about spending 20 million euro (£17.2m or $27m) in order to sign the player of Ghanaian descent (here's the Mario's page on Wikipedia).

Well, in the world of football it is a widespread (and somehow understandable) practice to deny any interest in players when a negotiation is on course, but did Silvio Berlusconi really have the necessity to call Mario a “rotten apple” and say that he is prone to "infect" his team, only in order to apologise the day after?

Barbara: "Major hit"

Sometimes it looks like if the former prime minister of Italy just love to say things that well soon need any apology, perhaps in order to get exposure to the media twice: when he says something nasty or rude, and when he makes amends, playing good cop/bad cop all by himself. Have a look at Silvio's quotes, to get an idea...

Massimo Moratti - the president of AC Milan's derby rival Internazionale Milan - said to journalists that the signing of Mario "Bad Boy" Balotelli will be "useful to Berlusconi in many ways" hinting at  political motives. Forecasters state that the player's transfer might contribute to the former prime minister's People of Liberty party's polls with 2 percentage points in next month elections.

One's for sure: as you can see from the photo, Mario Balotelli's (commonly known as Super Mario, for his talent) hairstyle is not going to improve the “hair war” within the Italian football team (see our blog's article “Silvio Berlusconi and the cockscomb of the Pharaoh”).

Mario Balotelli: is he worth 400,000 votes?