Exclusive / From the renewal of Juric to the sale of Lukic via Philadelphia: the opinion of Patrizio Sala
There are players whose name and surname will remain forever in the history pages of del Toro. Among these there is without any shadow of a doubt Patrick Room, a former midfielder who wore the grenade shirt for six seasons, collecting 208 appearances, 9 goals and 1 assist and above all managing to be among the protagonists of the last championship won by the Piedmontese club. Sala certainly represents the right person to analyze the situation that the team led by Ivan is going through in a careful and detailed manner Juric. We talked with the former del Toro midfielder about the European dream that Rodriguez and his teammates are nurturing, about the sale in January of a fundamental player like Sasa Lukic and many other topics. Very important topics facing a former grenade player who certainly always carries the Bull in his heart.
Patrizio Sala: “In place of Juric I would renew immediately”
Good morning Sala. At home Toro continues to hold the topic related to the possible renewal of Juric. Do you think he will stay or will he go away?
“I see the situation in a very positive way. Whether he will sign or not I don’t know. In his place I would sign immediately because I think the bond with Taurus goes beyond money. In my opinion there is a prestige linked to the continuity of performances and results and therefore I wish him that he signs. I wish it for him and obviously also for the Toro fans.”
In your opinion, will Toro at the end of the season be able to achieve a position that allows him to return to Europe after several years?
“This is a good question. I think that Toro has the potential to go to Europe despite not having a very important piece, something that in the end very few clubs have. Because it’s not just Toro that lacks that striker who can guarantee him at least 10 league goals that would guarantee him a position in the standings, compared to the current one which is still very good”.
Vlasic, Miranchuk and Lazaro: there are many players that Toro wants to redeem and above all there are many millions at stake. Would you buy these players back?
“I wouldn’t go so far after these redemptions, but I would think about the renewal of Juric’s contract who is the architect of this general growth of all the players. It is indisputable that Juric is a coach who knows how to make players improve. This is a fact. Then, that I have to run after a player I think it’s the most wrong thing in the world. This is my thought despite not being an executive or a president who puts the money. Sometimes I ask myself: “But why do I have to run after someone and maybe they don’t even have the desire to stay?” I would bet only on the coach, then I would also decide on the basis of his requests, if he wants Tizio, Caio and Sempronio, but also putting costs first and then I would make the necessary decisions. That said, I don’t know if Toro will redeem Lazaro, Vlasic and Miranchuk, or not.”
In January, Toro sold Lukic to Fulham. In your opinion, was the grenade club right to sell it?
“We need to see if it was the player who wanted to leave or if it was the grenade club that wanted to sell him. Clearly losing such an important player is a pity. Then there are players in quotes who are more important than others for their qualities, for their dynamic and aggressive appearance, which give continuous performance compared to others. This is another important factor. I Lukic wouldn’t have lost him, but if there are two parties who no longer get along, it’s not a problem to lose him”.
Another issue that continues to be talked about among Toro fans is Philadelphia. How important is it that there are open-door training sessions?
“I think that Philadelphia should be open to fans at least once a week. In my day we played a practice match against Primavera or the reserves on Thursdays and there were fans in the stands. The ideal is to try to maintain a good relationship with the fans. While perhaps sometimes receiving some whistle or some muttering. But I repeat, the ideal would be to open Philadelphia to the fans at least once a week.”
Primavera del Toro are doing very well, they are first in the standings together with Lecce. How important is it that Scutto’s team does well too?
“It’s very important because there’s also the possibility of drawing players from this reality. I take this opportunity to congratulate Vagnati, who was also one of my players, whom I met again on December 27th and it was really a pleasure to see him again. That day I had taken my nephew to see the places of Toro, namely Philadelphia and Superga. I have to congratulate Vagnati because, in addition to having taken players of a certain level for the first team, he was good at making the right choices together with Ludergnani for the Primavera. So let’s give credit to whoever deserves it. Compliments must be made to them.”
