You know things are bad when; The President of your favorite soccer team is resigned to throwing his hands up to another person to steer the sinking ship that is SS. Lazio. Some can say what they want but a combination of poor results and constant pressure from fans has left Claudio Lotito no choice but to reshuffle the coaching duties. “We chose Reja when it became clear the team needed a radical change of direction to find the strength and hunger to fight. Reja is experienced and a great Coach. Unfortunately this was a necessary choice, but Ballardini remains without doubt a wonderful tactician and a good man.” Wonderful tactician? Hardly! Then again, Lotito was the one who put Ballardini in charge with specific orders not to play specific people, *cough: Ledesma, Pandev, Stendardo, Firmani, Manfredini, and on and on. Surely he had to come up with some nice parting words for the ever so loyal spine-less excuse for a coach.

Thus, we turn the page on one of the darkest chapters in our 110 year history on to a man whose last name rings of foreign land yet speaks in the tongues of the Romans.
Meet our new coach “Il Mister” Edoardo “Edy” Reja. (pronounced R-e-y-a). Hailing from one of the most northern parts of Italy in the province of Gorizia (Boarders with Slovenia) , Edy is a returning ‘newcomer’ I guess it’s fair to say after only coaching in Serie A for 2 seasons previously with Napoli. Reja however is no stranger to the lower levels and the fight for survival, which is something we desperately need. His accolades are few yet throughout his first week in the capital many colleagues from around the peninsula are praising Lazio for swooping Signore Reja from his contract in Croatia. From former manager Dino Zoff to Palermo Fire-cracker President Maurizio Zamparini, Edy’s admirers are on the up-and up. (Now let’s hope for the same in results) It’s important to note that Reja left his post with club Hajduk Split who are languishing in the middle of the pack of the Croatian League.
Like his predecessor Ballardini (Arrigo Sacchi School of Hard Coaching) Reja comes from a successful coaching background in Fabio Capello. The two played together first and foremost in Serie A before Reja called it a career in 1975 and 125 Serie A appearances later.
At this point accolades and warm wishes will only get this blog — this far. We the Canadian Lazio Supporters Community would like to extend our warm wishes to our new trainer yet the honeymoon will only last until Sunday. Like Lotito said we are in a results business and Lazio is desperate for a result against Parma…Badly. Our survival counts on it. With 14 weeks to go, from here on end every match will be like a final for the Bianco-Celeste. Like we’ve done up until now remains the same, Pray and then talk badly when the results don’t arrive. New coach? New results? Speriamo (I hope so)