Ivano

My favourite ever town player. Made us dare to dream.

His crossing ability was unreal some of the best I’ve seen at bp he was a joy to watch

Cult hero undoubtedly.....the financial side of it was all a bit suspect to me but as a player he was talented and had the Town buzzing back then.

Quoted from pen penfras

We're still talking about him and how good he was more than 20 years after he played for us. How does that not give him legendary status?

He played 19 games. We talk about him because we don't move on. He does not hold legendary status just a little curio interest based on the fact fans raised the money to buy him and the plate throwing incident. Saying he's a Town legend is a bit of a let down for those over the years that really are.

Quoted from pen penfras

We're still talking about him and how good he was more than 20 years after he played for us. How does that not give him legendary status?

Bang on.

I'm just surprised that we've not had a generation of young Ivano's come through given his exploits at the Pier during his time at the club! He'd be chatting up a different lady every weekend. Well, his interpreter was doing the chatting up, but you get my drift...

Quoted from Maringer

I'm just surprised that we've not had a generation of young Ivano's come through given his exploits at the Pier during his time at the club! He'd be chatting up a different lady every weekend. Well, his interpreter was doing the chatting up, but you get my drift...

Being a big nosed ugly sodomist who couldn’t make himself understood never helped me with women ☹️

There's two sides to the Ivano issue isn't there?

On one hand you've got the Italian winger, full of flair and something of a trailblazer for a foreign player (especially outside the top flight at the time).  We had a good side under Laws, a very good side, but he added that little bit extra to it.  He united the club, the fans, the town in fact.  It felt like Ivano and Laws could lead us to something bigger and better, for a while they allowed us to dream.  Buckley Ball was great, it was entertaining to was David v Goliath but ultimately we never came out on top.  We always came up short when it mattered because we just couldn't compete with the bigger boys and their big budgets.  

Under Laws that attitude changed, we weren't just plucky Grimsby, we had an attitude about us that said we meant business.  We weren't just content to turn up and play pretty football. We wanted to turn up, intercourse excrement up in style and leave with 3 points.  We did all this whilst our star striker was in the treatment room.  

Ivano was a massive part of that, a bloody massive part.  That side had some genuine class in it, but Ivano was the talisman in every sense of the word.  

The flip of the coin is the guy who didn't really care about the club, he was here for a quick buck and by all accounts would have been happy to bleed the club dry.  I'm sure I've read a few ex-players accounts of him saying they soon grew tired of his attitude and disrespect.    The issue around Macca's testimonial left a real sour taste that arguably summed him up to a tee.

I lean more towards the cult hero than legend status.  Someone like Craig Disley, who played at a far lower level is more fitting of a legend status because he got it, he got what it meant to the fans and the people of this area.  Ivano gave us hope but ultimately he was only interested in feeding his own ego and pocket.

It was nice dreaming for a bit though...

Quoted from diehardmariner

There's two sides to the Ivano issue isn't there?

On one hand you've got the Italian winger, full of flair and something of a trailblazer for a foreign player (especially outside the top flight at the time).  We had a good side under Laws, a very good side, but he added that little bit extra to it.  He united the club, the fans, the town in fact.  It felt like Ivano and Laws could lead us to something bigger and better, for a while they allowed us to dream.  Buckley Ball was great, it was entertaining to was David v Goliath but ultimately we never came out on top.  We always came up short when it mattered because we just couldn't compete with the bigger boys and their big budgets.  

Under Laws that attitude changed, we weren't just plucky Grimsby, we had an attitude about us that said we meant business.  We weren't just content to turn up and play pretty football. We wanted to turn up, intercourse excrement up in style and leave with 3 points.  We did all this whilst our star striker was in the treatment room.  

Ivano was a massive part of that, a bloody massive part.  That side had some genuine class in it, but Ivano was the talisman in every sense of the word.  

The flip of the coin is the guy who didn't really care about the club, he was here for a quick buck and by all accounts would have been happy to bleed the club dry.  I'm sure I've read a few ex-players accounts of him saying they soon grew tired of his attitude and disrespect.    The issue around Macca's testimonial left a real sour taste that arguably summed him up to a tee.

I lean more towards the cult hero than legend status.  Someone like Craig Disley, who played at a far lower level is more fitting of a legend status because he got it, he got what it meant to the fans and the people of this area.  Ivano gave us hope but ultimately he was only interested in feeding his own ego and pocket.

It was nice dreaming for a bit though...

That`s how I also see it and Ivano has never come back which is a shame because the fans love him.

If he was here for a quick buck, I'm not sure why he would pay £50k himself to play for us.

I think the payment for testimonials is embedded in Italian culture and just different to us, not necessarily mean per se.