Viola Nation: for Fiorentina fans

Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots have decided to sit down in front of their microphones and tempt fate in a way that would make a Sophocles protagonist wince. That's right, we're still flushed with the afterglow of a Moise Kean-inspired win over Hellas Verona and, as we gaze into the abyss of the international break, we're feeling okay. Fine. Good, even. Because we're trying to figure out if Fiorentina is actually good. And you know what? We do.

We break down that Verona game, naturally, and compare it to some other recent and perhaps slightly less enjoyable wins against mid-table opposition. We sing Kean's praises, of course, but also dip into some of the less noticeable heroes as well (central defenders, this one's for you).

After that, we dip into the depth chart and what the injuries--Albert Guðmundsson, Danilo Cataldi, Marin Pongračić--mean for a team competing on three fronts. We also (big sigh) dip into the winter transfer market, looking at what kind of player the club should target after the APOEL loss laid bare the issues at certain key positions.

Along the way, we learned about McMike's grandmother's communication advice, what plant-based beverage Producer Mike will shill for, and just how far Tito can stretch a pit bull metaphor. Big thank you to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. Hit us with questions on the website or on Twitter. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Still wrapped in the warm embrace of a 5-1 battering of Roma, your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are in as good a mood as they've been in for quite some time. McMike and Tito open with a long discussion about that incredible performance against the listless Giallorossi, trying to figure out if the limit exists for this edition of the Viola.

After that, we run down the injury list, which launches us into a conversation about the current squad depth, which is somehow simultaneously frightening and also better than it's been in years. We round this episode off with a quick look ahead to the Genoa and Torino games, making some predictions that'll send you to look for some holy water, just in case.

Along the way, we learn about McMike's masochistic Wheaties, what kind of cloud Producer Mike would be, and Tito's lonely tennis games. Big thanks to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. Hit us up on the website or on Twitter if you've got questions. As always, we had a blast making this and hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The club may be on break but (two-thirds of) your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are hard at work. McMike and Tito open this one up with a glimpse back at that insane AC Milan game before looking into how the Viola boys are faring on international duty. Then, for the 3rd episode in a row, it's a look at what might possibly be the chance of a potential agreement between the club and the city for a lease agreement on the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Maybe.

The highlight of the episode, though, is obviously you. We got a bumper crop of listener questions that got us talking about all kinds of stuff, from the most unfairly criticized player in the team (Mike-R) to what could be happening to the transfer market after a CAS ruling on Lassana Diarra (Hesanka) to our worst reactions to watching a game (Martin Simanjutak) and everything in between.

Along the way, we learned about a healthier McMike, Tito lying facedown on a barroom floor, and the Producer Mike specter of negativity that can seize an unwilling host at any moment. As always, thanks to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. Hit us with any questions on the website or on Twitter. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are back following a snoozefest of a draw at Empoli to, well, discuss the Viola. We start off with a look back at happier times before dipping into some more of Rocco Commisso's comments to the media about the future of the team (content warning: very silly).

The meat of this episode, though, is a conversation about what we learned from the Empoli game. We talk about the tactical benefits of a back 3 compared to a back 4, shout out ginger teen god Pietro Comuzzo, and try to figure out if there are any lessons to take into the midweek tie against crack Welsh outfit the New Saints.

Along the way, we learn about McMike's post-Disney party hangover, Producer Mike's unconscionable refusal to share his fluency in Welsh, and Tito's musings about what other compound phrases follow the same pluralization rules as attorneys-general. Thank you to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. Feel free to reach out to us on the website or on Twitter. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as we enjoyed making it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Want to know who's happy that the international break is over? Yep, it's your three favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots, who are back on the microphone and raring to discuss everything Viola. After running down Tito's safe return from the woods and a quick rehash of the transfer window, we're delighted to dive into affairs that are considerably more current.

That means, of course, that we're trying to glean information from Rocco's recent comments to the media; the club owner turned the bombast way down from pressers past and we're fascinated to pick through this Commisso conversation (now with 100% less McMike slander!) and see what we can learn about Fiorentina's long-term direction, from the stadium to potential sales to where Serie A can go from here.

Don't worry, though. We move from the esoteric and philosophical to the painfully tangible as we break down that heartbreaker of an Atalanta game, trying to figure what, if anything, it means for Raffaele Palladino and his still-winless boys in the coming weeks and over the rest of the season.

Along the way, we learn whose house McMike allegedly hasn’t been inside of recently, how Producer Mike’s going to fix this defense, and Tito’s interest in a new player co-ownership model. Big thank you to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. Feel free to reach out to us on the website or on Twitter. As always, we had a blast making this and hope you enjoy listening. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The season's started, the transfer window's closed, and your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots have a lot to say. McMike and Producer Mike try to figure out if Fiorentina is lost in the woods. Are they actually lost? Are they even in the woods? Is Tito out wandering through the forest trying to find them? Are we getting into Betteridge's Law territory?

The Mikes start the conversation with a dive into the flurry of activity that closed out the mercato. It's way too early to judge these moves and you'd better believe that won't stop us from running through all of Daniele Pradè's last minute machinations and handing out some grades.

Then it's a look at Fiorentina's Conference League draw and the rocky road to get there, Along the way, you get a glimpse of one of McMike's oldest friends, Producer Mike learning live on air just how many central defenders are suspended for the first Conference League game, and just how dead inside your podcasters here are feeling.

Thanks to the Sport Social Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. Feel free to reach out to us on the website or on Twitter. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the most exciting time of the year for Viola fans: the end of the transfer market and the start of a new Serie A season. The only way we could possibly celebrate it is by getting all three of your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots back together for the first time in nearly two months to talk it all over, starting with what's shaping up to be a furious end to the transfer window, with Nico González, Albert Guðmundsson, Amir Richardson, Pietro Terracciano's extension, and whatever's happening with Sofyan Amrabat as major points of discussion.

We also dive into the first game of the new campaign, attempting to glean what we can from an uneven 90 minutes and getting to grips with what Palladinismo actually looks like, from back to front and back again. Along the way, we get a little Mike-on-Mike identity theft, McMike and Warren G’s Midfield Regulator Index, and Producer Mike’s degenerate history that we can’t discuss.

As always, thank you to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us. Windchime Weather provides our theme song, and check out Nate's new and very different band Friends Friends. Feel free to hit us up on the website or on Twitter. As always, we hope yall enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Finally, McMike and Producer Mike get a chance to talk without Tito bringing weird medieval history into the conversation. Instead, we can focus on, y'know, actual Fiorentina stuff. We start with a rundown of Fiorentina's preseason thus far and what we can glean from it (Barák in midfield? Kean looking good?), and then, because that's all too happy, we turn to a topic that will crater any good vibes.

We're talking, of course, about the transfer market. We start with the outgoing--Nico González, Sofyan Amrabat--and then turn to the (possibly) incoming--Tanner Tessmann, Edoardo Bove, Albert Guðmundsson, David de Gea (whoopsie that actually happened)--and try to figure out just what this club's vision is. Spoiler alert: the conclusions we reached were uh pretty grim, touching on the long-term plans and how ambitious the Viola really are. Along the way, we learned about McMike’s Handsomeness Index, how many times you can fool Producer Mike, and which words we need Tito to pronounce.

Thanks as always to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music (Nate's got a new project! It's called Friends Friends! It sounds nothing like the credit music! Listen to it!) Feel free to hit us up on the website or on Twitter. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two thirds of your favorite crew of Fiorentina podcast idiots dips into the Viola mercato thus far. Producer Mike and Tito dip into the preseason friendlies, desperately searching for meaning in games that are ultimately meaningless (and maybe learning some life lessons along the way, but probably not), but that's not what you're here for. You're here for a plunge into mercato madness.

And a plunge is what you'll get. We wade in a bit gingerly, looking at the deals that have gone official--Milenković, Kean, Pongračić, Valentini--before diving into speculation. We discuss departures for some guys who look to be well outside the first team (Brekalo, Nzola, Ikoné) and then it's the meat of the transfer industry: potential additions. Of course we're going in on Andrea Colpani, but we hit on a couple other names too.

Along the way, we learn what Peyton Manning taught Producer Mike about preseason, get a glimpse into some of Tito’s past trauma around empty beer cases, and figure out why we won’t be getting live updates on preseason from inside the Rocco B. Commisso Viola Park and Fun Time Activity Center.

Big thank you to Windchime Weather for the music (and check out Nate's new project Friends Friends, which is a very fun and very different musical outing) and to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us. Feel free to reach out to us on the site or on Twitter. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as we enjoyed making it. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're doing a weird one here, as two-thirds of your favorite podcast idiots are unavailable at the moment. Which ones are missing, and why? Which one's still shrieking unintelligibly into a microphone? Well, you've got to listen to find out. That's how the podcasting business works.

The remaining podcast idiot glances at the weird Andrea Barzagli story before running through the Moise Kean deal and looking for clues about the future of Fiorentina's defense, with a little bit of Nicolò Zaniolo chat thrown in for good measure. After that, it's a villainous monologue about what Fiorentina can learn from Italy's performance at the Euros before a glance at how the Viola Primavera break through.

Thanks as ever to the Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us, and to Windchime Weather for the theme music. Also, Nate (the man behind Windchime Weather) has a new project called Friends Friends that's rad as hell. Give it a listen. As usual, get hold of us on the website or on Twitter with any questions. We had a blast making this and hope you enjoy listening. Forza Viola!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices