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Sampdoria ultras protest losing streak by sitting in front of team bus

Dirty Tackle

Relegated from Serie A after the 2010/11 season and making a quick return this year, Sampdoria have found the top flight to be just as painful as they left it. Seven straight losses and (and nine without a win) have the club just out of the relegation zone once again and the ultras are getting restless.

Sunday's 2-0 loss in Palermo had manager Ciro Ferrara (who got hit in the face with the ball, knocking his glasses off his face during the match) proclaiming that he will not quit, but that was before a group of ultras met the team at the airport.

From Football Italia:

Around 50 ultras were at the airport to 'greet' the squad, so they were rushed on to a bus for safety reasons.

However, the fans then blocked off the road to stop the bus from moving, performing a 'sit in' and demanding negotiations with the players or technical staff.

Nobody wanted to speak with the ultras, so after a few minutes police intervened to clear the road.

By not talking to the ultras, it seems they learned from Genoa's mistakes last season. And to the fans' credit, it sounds like they made their point peacefully and the whole thing ended without too much trouble. Still, we're only 12 matches into the season, so there's plenty of time for this situation to get much, much worse.