Viola Nation: for Fiorentina fans

Look at our timing! Tito and the Mikes managed to plan a recording around deadline day. We waited until the window was closed in Italy to grade the comings and goings of the the end of the mercato. It was a long and arduous summer that took a lot out of Tito. Someone should probably peek into the bunker and make sure he didn't go full crazy. We grade each move like that one teacher you hated because they docked you points for every little thing...like your punctuation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the market drags on and we await actual matches to discuss, Tito and the Mikes talk about players, transfer fees and passion fruit.....again. With big acquisitions and big departures there surely won't be any differing opinions right? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fabio Paratici and company have been hard at work bringing us pleasant and unpleasant surprises! Tito and the Mikes discuss the comings and goings as we reach the end of the first month of the mercato. Along the way, McMike praises the French....we think, catches Tito up on the latest celebrity gossip, and invites Cesare Prandelli's friends to his basement. This offseason might be hitting us a little hard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The mercato is underway! Paratici and company have gotten to work right away giving us plenty to talk about. In this episode we grade some transfers, find out who McMike think is the better scout Tito or Producer Mike, and discuss if this is the year Ricky Sottil puts it all together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And here's to the next 100 episodes! Tito, McMike and Producer Mike kick off the first podcast after we hit the big 100. We start wrapping up the past season and introduce some new segments to break free from the monotony of the offseason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, look at us. Who would've thought? Not me. We've hit the big 100! 100 episodes of laughter, sadness, and McMike's esoteric 80's references. There have been highs, there have been lows but most of all there has been Fiorentina. In this special centennial episode we answer your questions and then we ask the questions to a very special guest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fresh off the heels of an utterly disgusting draw at Lecce, your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are back to chop up that one, along with a little Crystal Palace talk. That's right, it's McMike and Tito back just like the old days (Producer Mike is too busy looking up USL League 2 prospects to sprinkle more American prospects into future transfer talks) and without an adult in the room, we rapidly devolve into our usual back-and-forth. It's not just the games we're talking about, though. We also run through the latest round of stadium updates (spoiler: the news isn't great!) before taking aim at what's shaping up to be quite a summer. Since Serie A survival isn't secured yet, mathematically speaking, we only glance at it sidelong, but it's pretty clear that the Viola are going to be very busy in the hottest months of the year. Along the way, we got some takes on Irish food, the difficulties of fully inhabiting the character of an animal, and Marin Pongračić being the Franz Beckenbauer of Daniele Ruganis. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We don't want to jinx it. Let's make that very clear. But with the Viola 5 points clear of the drop after scraping together the necessary results over the past month, it's looking like next year's centennial will indeed be in the top flight, and your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are coming to grips with that. It's just Tito and Producer Mike (McMike's temporarily returned to the old country) to break down the recent outings and look ahead to the Crystal Palace and Lazio games. We also touch on Italy crashing out of the World Cup before diving into what the summer could look like: outgoing stars, incoming prospects, and what exactly we're supposed to do with Paolo Vanoli. Along the way, we learn about Producer Mike's new favorite word and do a quick run through the squarest heads in recent Fiorentina history. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When we last recorded two weeks ago, things looked pretty good. Fiorentina had won back-to-back Serie A games for the first time all season and had easily dispatched Jagiellonia Białystok in the Conference League to boot. Butterflies fluttered in the sunlit meadows and the badgers danced their most joyful dances. To the unwise, it seemed that the season was finally looking up. And you know what? That’s on us. We should have known that this is Fiorentina and nothing ever stays good for long. That’s why two-thirds of your favorite podcast idiots are back to talk about the inevitable backlash from those two pleasant weeks. We’ve got plenty of misery to run through, of course, and plenty of frustrations to vent as we do so. We’re not just mired in the gloomy past, though. We’re also mired in the gloomy future, making some predictions about the upcoming Conference League tie against Raków Częstochowa (coincidentally, a word that Tito just cannot pronounce no matter how he tries) and the relegation 6-pointer against Cremonese in Serie A. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After back-to-back wins in Serie A for the first time this year and a resounding Conference League triumph thrown in there for good measure, your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are in a fine mood and ready for a rare positive episode. And yes, we realize that this is probably why that second leg of the Jagiellonia Białystok game went so badly awry. Anyways, we're running through our big dogs, boneheads, and conclusions of the past couple weeks, as per usual. Now that the dust has settled on the mercato, we also chatted about the ideal starting lineup for these final few months, and then wrapped up with our usual visit to the Relegation Percent-o-meter. Along the way, we learned the reason behind Producer Mike's reticence to bark, McMike's wardrobe suggestion (hint: it's tearaway shirts), and Tito's recurring vapors. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a real good news, bad news situation for Fiorentina of late. The bad news is that the team, after briefly showing a pulse, has nosedived again, losing 3 straight games while shedding all that previous progress. The good news? At least the transfer window's closed so these bozos can't hurt themselves anymore. Your three favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are back to discuss all that and more. We start out with a quick run through the Big Dog of the Fortnight, Bonehead of the Fortnight, and a thing we learned. You know, beyond the Viola's general haplessness. We then turned our attention to the mercato, picking out the good, the bad, and the truly inexplicable; if you want a hint, think of the Gatorade High School Player of the Year. Once we'd bummed ourselves out enough reviewing the transfer business, we finished up with a look at the Relegation Percent-o-meter, which provided a surprisingly optimistic forecast. Along the way, we got one well-dressed man who really believes that he’s a well dressed man, some more sub-par barking, and a particularly tortured bird joke that never quite got off the ground. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every episode of this podcast runs the emotional gamut but, in the wake of Rocco Commisso's passing, this one did in particular. Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots opened the pod with a long conversation about the man and his Viola legacy. After that, we lightened the mood by handing out our usual weekly awards before turning to transfer market. We talked through new signings Manor Solomon, Marco Brescianini, and Jack Harrison, talked through the exits of Pablo Marí, Mattia Viti, and Tommaso Martinelli, and then set sail into the mists of speculation. Along the way, we were treated to McMike's Woodland Critter Variety Hour, some very unconvincing barking from Producer Mike, and Tito's recent traumatic coffee experience. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are back and are every bit as grim as you'd expect. We talk about relegation, of course, and preview the transfer window. More than anything, though, we're just sad. Sad about the Viola, yeah, but sad more generally too. For a change of pace, we also talk about Rocco Commisso and club ownership in general. Did that cheer us up? Well, no. McMike ended up needing a distraction. Producer Mike predicted the heat death of the universe. And Tito somehow got sadder than both of them. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Nate’s got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To quote the Drive-by Truckers, the Viola have been falling for so long it's like gravity is gone and they're just floating. That won't stop your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots from getting on the mic and trying to figure out where it's all gone wrong, other than everywhere. It's just Hines and Tito this week as McMike's got holiday duties to attend to, but we maintain a pretty good level of absurdity regardless. This time around, we're looking back at the past couple of weeks and handing out some awards, including one we've had to rename in light of recent events. Then we take a look at some simple adjustments the Viola could make to stop losing like the losers they are. Staying in this present eventually got depressing, so we decided to look into the future and saw, well, an unremittingly grim landscape. Yep, we discuss relegation (one of us is surprisingly confident that Fiorentina's staying up) and the January mercato before closing out with a look at the coach, the fans, and the general feeling around the squad. Along the way, we learned about Mike's pandering to a younger listening demographic, Tito's Slingblade psychosis, and a new social experiment to conduct if you're listening in a crowded, public space. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Nate’s got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to some technical difficulties, this episode is up a couple days late, but fear not: your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are at their best, as ever, as they break down the Juventus game, looking for the tiniest pellets of hope to feed on like wide-eyed goldfish with 6-second memories and largely failing. We also touched on some woeful kit choices, as well as Producer Mike's gastronomical sins, McMike's hierarchy of journalistic respect, and Tito's inversion of linear time. And, because Fiorentina fans continue to be disgusting racists, we had to address that for what feels like the umpteenth time. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Nate’s got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It happened. It finally happened. A historically slumping Fiorentina finally took some accountability and started firing those responsible. Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots recorded this in the smoldering rubble of the Lecce game, before Stefano Pioli had been officially relieved of duty, but the writing was already on the wall, so we discussed his and DS Daniele Pradè's depatures. We also got some vintage McMike rants, a blanket apology from Producer Mike for everything (EVERYTHING) that's gone wrong, and learned about the various types of snake: evergreen, deciduous, et cetera. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Nate’s got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fiorentina's wacky (read: tragic) start to the season continues, with the added wrinkle of apparent competence in the Conference League. Here to talk about it are two-thirds of your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots. We dive deep into a maddening performance against AC Milan and honestly bum ourselves out a little bit before turning to happier topics. Hahaha no we don't. Instead, we try to figure out which member of Fiorentina's management that's publicly taken responsibility for this mess is right; it's an "I am Spartacus" moment but nobody's going to get crucified. We also learn about McMike's anniversary (happy anniversary, McMike!) and the best joke that Tito knows. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Nate’s got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fiorentina has arrived at the unenviable point of the season at which the only way to plumb new depths involves picking up a shovel, and the Viola are sure enough looking for the right tool. Two-thirds of your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are here to wonder where it's all gone wrong (everywhere) and wonder if it's going to get better (lol). This one's coming out a little late due to some technical issues on the back end so we're reaching all the way back to the last couple of games these bozos played: a brief moment of sunshine against Sigma Olomouc that made the subsequent crash-and-burn at Roma all the more painful. As we, like every other fan, look around like Vincent Vega to find a scapegoat, at least we get some classic, brusque-as-hell Philadelphia descriptions from McMike; some lolMets despair from Producer Mike; and a shot at Tito's Fenian shortcomings. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Nate’s got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cinders. Ash. Dark, roiling skies. A desolate landscape strewn with rubble. This, dear listener, is where your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots reach you from. We shriek into the uncaring heavens, hoping to hear an echo that will prove that their are limits to our suffering, but our calls continue into a cold and endless universe, weakening until they vanish without ever seeing an end to the suffering. Why, yes, we are indeed recording in the aftermath of a psychically destructive defeat against Como. However did you guess? As you’d expect, we’re diving deep into what went wrong here. Whether it’s the personnel or the tactics, we’re leaving no stone unturned. Much like the season itself, we’re so upside-down that we’re changing roles mid-podcast. This time around, it’s Producer Mike who completely diverts us into a long conversation about wine pairings, which may be for the b best given that we also touched on McMike’s oddly erotic dreams while Tito blithely plows through all of it. Turns out that we were wrong with our last episode, and that’s on us. We’re very sorry. Thank you as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Nate's got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's taken us months of waiting and we've gotten so frustrated that McMike pulled out all his hair, but we finally have additional games to talk about. Join two-thirds of your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots (McMike's getting experimental Rogaine treatments and also moving house) to talk about the Viola in real, live games. Calcio is back. Because the transfer window industrial complex remains the single greatest driver of discourse in this accursed sport, we do have more mercato discussions, running through the arrivals of Hans Nicolussi Caviglia and Tariq Lamptey and how they'll shape this team's season. The real highlight for us, though, is having actual Fiorentina games to talk about, although the Producer Mike therapy episode and Miner Talk (way less scary to write than say out loud) with Tito. Thank you to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sport Social Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hosting us and to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Windchime Weather⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the music. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices