Will Torino escape relegation?

The arrival of experienced coach Alberto Zaccheroni only days before the start of the season was widely seen as a significant boost for Serie A newcomers Torino.

Zaccheroni's appointment as Gianni De Biasi's successor followed a disappointing pre-season period during which Torino were ousted from the early rounds of the Coppa Italia.

Hopes were indeed high that the late coaching change would help Torino make a quantum leap in quality and perhaps challenge for a UEFA Cup slot. Yet, this season has turned out to be a complete fiasco so far and, with 15 games to go before the end of the Serie A, Torino must improve by leaps and bounds if they are to avoid relegation.

At present, Zaccheroni's side are only five points above the red zone with a number of crucial direct clashes coming up.

Last summer, club president Urbano Cairo succeeded in luring a number of quality players, the likes of goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, Italy's World Cup winning midfielder Simone Barone and playmaker Stefano Fiore.

However, after just a few Serie A games, it soon became evident that the key players in the Torino squad did not not fit into the pattern of play preferred by the newly-appointed coach. Zaccheroni changed several systems but to no avail.

Torino's stuttering start hit rock-bottom on the fifth day of the season with a 4-0 home defeat to Lazio, coached by Delio Rossi.

It was only after the sixth day, following a narrow 1-0 home success against fellow strugglers Chievo, that Zaccheroni's team started to slowly climb up the ladder.

Fiore never really got going and soon found himself on the substitutes' bench. Barone has so far proved to be a less accomplished player than initially thought, particularly when it comes to dictating the rhythm of the game and supply the strikers.

With a weak midfield that did little to alleviate the pressure from a porous defence, Torino leaked in many goals and suffered a string of defeats.

To make matters worse, their attacking trio of Roberto Stellone, Roberto Muzzi and Elvis Abbruscato failed to make their presence felt in many a match. No wonder Torino have only scored 18 goals so far, only one more than relegation-threatened Parma.

Blunt attack

Everyone knew that Torino's attack was a blunt instrument because even in the Serie B last season, Stellone and company did not make much of an impression.

Were it not for the sterling contribution of Italy U-21 schemer Rosina, Torino would probably not have made it to the play-offs. All this brings us to the fact that Cairo did very little during the two transfer windows to bolster the team's attack and the defence.

While Parma, Messina, Ascoli, Chievo and Siena, just to mention some of the teams mired in relegation trouble, were very active during the January transfer window to improve their chances of escaping the drop, Cairo came up with only two signings... Cesare Bovo and Francesco Coco. It has to be said that these two players had been sidelined for several weeks because of injury.

Given such circumstances, how can one be surprised that Torino have taken such a nosedive in the standings, having collected just one point out of a maximum of 21. Five defeats in a row are a massive blow to any team, let alone a club like Torino who are trying to chart a safe way out of troubled waters.

Torino's upcoming matches against Chievo, Cagliari and Fiorentina are crucial for the immediate future of the team. Only a significant improvement in results could save Zaccheroni's job.

In keeping faith with the former Milan boss, Cairo has reminded one and all that his decision to stick with De Biasi after the team went through a dark patch during the months of January and February, paid rich dividends later on in the season.

Another coaching change is certainly not the ideal solution for Torino at this stage of the season. Zaccheroni possesses the guile and experience to help the team come out of this difficult situation. It is time for the players to get behind their coach and live up to their responsibilities.

Serie A statistics

1st win for UEFA Cup hopefuls Livorno after a barren run of 10 winless games in a row (four draws and six defeats). Last weekend, they overcame third-from-bottom Messina 2-1. The Sicilians have only last year's 2-2 draw to show from three Serie A visits to Livorno's Armando Picchi Stadium. New Parma coach Claudio Ranieri was off to negative start as his side were beaten at home by mid-table Sampdoria. This was Parma's third straight defeat and also Samp's first ever win in 13 Serie A visits to the Tardini Stadium.

2 draws, two defeats and only one win (vs Catania 2-1) is the disappointing record of crisis-hit Palermo in their last five outings. Significantly enough, Palermo have not won any of their last three home outings - back-to-back defeats against Lazio (0-3) and Empoli (0-1) and a 1-1 draw against Chievo on Sunday. In the past three seasons, Palermo have always shared the spoils with the Verona outfit. At the moment, Palermo have a nine-point lead over Lazio but the latter have a game in hand (home vs Chievo). Reggina maintained their positive run with a 1-1 draw against Atalanta. This was the third consecutive draw between these two sides in Reggio Calabria. Also, Atalanta have never prevailed in four visits to the Oreste Granillo Stadium.

4 players - Christian Brocchi (Milan), Mauro Minelli (Catania), Giulio Migliaccio (Atalanta) and Vittorio Tosto (Empoli) - received marching orders by referees in the past weekend. In the meantime, only one penalty was awarded by referees. Sergio Volpi had a great opportunity to seal Sampdoria's victory over Parma as he stepped forward to take his side's sixth penalty of the term. Volpi failed to score as his effort hit the upright but his miss had no repercussions as Walter Novellino's Sampdoria cruised to their third away win of the term. Thus far, Samp are the only top-division side to have come out of Inter's Giuseppe Meazza Stadium undefeated. Roberto Mancini's Inter are the only side still unbeaten. Cagliari (1-1, on the fifth day) and Udinese (0-0, on the seventh day) are the other two sides against whom record-breakers Inter have not prevailed this season.

5th defeat on the trot for struggling Torino (vs Inter 1-3, Parma 0-1, Udinese 2-3, Reggina 1-2 and Lazio 0-2) as Alberto Zaccheroni's side were soundly beaten by Lazio at the Olympic Stadium. Lazio ended a three-match winless home run thanks to a Goran Pandev brace. For the record, their most recent of 10 wins in 59 Serie A visits to the capital dates back to November 21, 1993 (2-1). In a slow-burning encounter on the neutral ground of Rimini, Fiorentina left it late to edge Catania by a solitary Luca Toni goal. The Viola have won all their last three outings and four of their last five away matches against Catania. All the Sicilians have to show from their last six outings are two draws.

7th win for Milan in 12 unbeaten league outings as an injury-time Christian Molinaro own goal edged the Rossoneri past lowly Siena by the odd goal in seven. Milan's Christian Brocchi was sent off at a time when the score was still 2-2. Ronaldo and Massimo Maccarone returned to Serie A action with a bang. Milan's win kept them only two points adrift of fourth-placed Empoli. For the interest of statistics, it is worth mentioning that Siena have beaten Milan only once - 2-1 in April 2005 - in four home Serie A encounters. Alberto Malesani's Udinese threw away a precious 2-0 half-time lead to share the spoils with bottom side Ascoli.

14 points currently separate runaway leaders Inter from nearest pursuers Roma in what is turning out to be the most uncontested title race since Fabio Capello's title-winning Milan side of the mid-1990s. The Nerazzurri settled the score early on with relegation-threatened Cagliari as they scored after only 11 minutes through their Argentinian defender Nicolas Burdisso. The Sardinians have not beaten Inter in Milan since their 2-1 success on May 21, 1995. Since their 2-2 draw in November 1996, Cagliari have always been beaten by Inter at the San Siro. Roma slipped further adrift of Inter after losing to high-flying Empoli for the second season running.

24 goals were scored on the 24th day: 13 coming from the hosts and the remaining 11 from the visitors, who managed three victories. Foreigners contributed with 10 goals while there were 12 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far amounts to 575. Siena defender Molinaro committed the only own goal in their 4-3 defeat to Milan. Four players, namely Ronaldo (Milan), Massimo Maccarone (Siena), Goran Pandev (Lazio) and Andrea Soncin (Ascoli), grabbed a brace each. Last season's top-scorer Luca Toni was the only player who came on as a substitute and scored. The World Cup-winning striker is joint-second, together with Reggina's Rolando Bianchi, in the scorers' list... two goals short of leader Francesco Totti of Roma. Leaders Inter possess the most prolific attack, with 49 goals, and the best defensive record, with only 17 goals against, in the Serie A. On the other hand, Parma, with only 17 goals in favour, have the poorest scoring record.