Damien Comolli's view on the Draw.

[nickGT]

I thought this was pretty funny he done this. It wouldn't normally be the sporting directors job to write such 'articles'. Its almost like he is clutching at straws and he is trying to re establish himself at the club.

Anyway here is the piece.

Home games against Dinamo Zagreb and Spartak Moscow might catch the eye but our Sporting Director Damien Comolli feels Udinese will provide just as stern a test as we kick-off our UEFA Cup group in Italy later this month.
We travel to the north-east of Italy for the first game of Group D on October 23 to face the side currently joint-top of Serie A with Lazio at the Stadiu Friuli, Udine.
Udinese challenged for a place in the Champions League for most of last season before falling away to finish seventh. They qualified for the UEFA Cup because Copa Italia finalists Roma and Inter finished in Champions League qualifying places.
They qualified for the group stages after being Borussia Dortmund on penalties.

"Udinese are a traditional Italian club that always has a good team with talented players," said Damien from the draw in Nyon, Switzerland. "They have a mixture of Italian and South American players and a mix of youth and experience.
"They had a good season last season and were challenging for the Champions League up until Christmas but had a bit of a dip and eventually finished seventh.
"The stadium is very different to what we're used to in England as it has a track all the way around it and it will be a tough start for us."
After Udinese, we face Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, the former club of both Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka, at the Lane on November 6.
"They are top of the Croatian league again and very consistent," said Damien. "They have signed three or four South American players in the summer but you'll still find home-grown players of high quality there as well.
"We have a very good relationship with them and both clubs were pleased to have drawn each other.
"Luka Modric will be relishing the game. I spoke to him after we played in Poland and he was looking forward to the draw and now he's up against his former club."
Our second away match in the group takes us to the east of Holland and NEC Nijmegen on November 27. "They qualified for the UEFA Cup through the play-off system in Holland and they have good talent, very similar to another Dutch club FC Twente and will play football in the Dutch way. It's another difficult game for us."
We wrap up the group with an intriguing clash against Russian side Spartak Moscow at the Lane on either December 17/18, date to be confirmed.
Roman Pavlyuchenko's former side kicked-off the season in the Champions League but were knocked out by Dinamo Kiev.
"First of all, we're pleased not to be playing away on the artificial surface at their stadium," said Damien. "They are a good football side with a new coach in Michael Laudrup, who we came up against when he was with Getafe in the UEFA Cup last season.
"They have a mixture of South American and Russian talent and the Russian teams are strong, as showed by CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg in this competition. Spartak are a big club in Russia and this will be a big game for us."

[bazzabelfast]

not a bad idea for the hiearchy of the club to be doing articles for the fans , i believe it puts across that they are doing their homework and actually know something about football , i would like to see ramos put together an article on his team formation and the rationale behind them .

[funster]

not a bad idea for the hiearchy of the club to be doing articles for the fans , i believe it puts across that they are doing their homework and actually know something about football , i would like to see ramos put together an article on his team formation and the rationale behind them .

Mate, there is nothing in that article that offers any real insight whatsoever. Classic drivel written by all clubs. Very few official releases from any club offer real value.

I bet anybody who looked up our opponents on Wikipedia could've come up with most of what was written!

[Callaecia]

i hate how smug comolli sounds, 'intriguing clash', doesn't he know we are going to get our arses handed to us?

[samuel007]

Camolli is just trying to win back the fans that he has lost and wants his death by searching on google a little history about the club.
He really is a complete joke.
He never talks about opposition, including their history, so why has he done this...He may be lossing his job and is starting to feel the heat!

I bloody well hope so!

[yidno1]

Same old tosh released by the club and really who wants to listen to what that infection has to say after contributing to the demise of our club.

[diamondlites]

I doubt if he wrote it.Like others have said same old drivel released by the club.No real inside info there.
I wish the players ect could say what they realy think.

[irishstu]

Seen him on Sky Sports News and thought 'yes!!! he's resigned or been sacked!!!' How disappointed I was to hear him talk about the draw.