Brother's in Arms (Tannadice Park (Dundee United))

Member Name: Zenith

Product:	Tannadice Park (Dundee United)
Date:	27/07/00 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: If nothing else it should be interesting to see ho wit all turns out

Disadvantages: The Bonettis could be this years version of Barnes and King Kenny

It’s very much a family affair this season down Dens Park way. With the brothers Marr in charge in the boardroom and the Bonetti brothers running the football side of things an interesting year is in store for the blue half of the City of Discovery. Player manager Ivano Bonetti and his assistant Dario will, if nothing else, be an engaging side show to the usual two horse race that is the SPL.

Bonetti, a former Sampdoria player, has managed to attract a bewildering mixture of foreign talent including the Australian Chris Coyne formerly of West Ham; the left back Marcello Marocco who was plying his trade with Modena in Serie C; Marco del Marchi, another Italian who was playing up front with Vitesse Arnhem ( alongside Pierre Van Hooijdonk ); and two strikers from Paraguay – Fabien Caballero and Jose Manuel Sara.

However the most intriguing signing is that of midfielder Georgi Nemadze, the captain of the Georgian national side. Nemadze has been signed on a free from Reggina and his preseason exploits have had Dundee fans rushing to pick up season tickets. There hasn’t been a demand like this up Dens way in the past 15 years. Perhaps the rumours of Lombardo leaving Lazio to join this Tayside club have been given more credit than they should have.

Those fans must, however, be concerned as to whether these players will survive the Scottish winter. Motherwell on a wet Tuesday night in December is not exactly Bari. Can this young manager find a winning blend between Latin flair and Scottish …erm…whatever it is we do well…? Dundee has finished 5th and 6th in the past two seasons and some might think that a club of this size should be content with that. This is clearly no longer good enough and Bonetti has pledged to get the club into Europe within 3 years. If that’s not enough he’s also committed Dundee to playing “good football”. Such a radical departure from the dour “lump it up the
park” philosophy of previous manager Jocky Scott will make for fascinating viewing.

Finally, as if the Italian influence is not strong enough already the club also has a new sponsor – Italian coffee manufacturer Mokarbia.

Player to watch: Georgi Nemadze – the captain of Georgia playing for Dundee? He’s got to be worth keeping an eye on.
Prediction: If they gel quickly – 6th.

Summary: