BOLOGNA - Pagliuca has always been there to face the music. Even in the most difficult moments, he has never gone into hiding. After September 11, for example, he started wearing the captain's armband bearing the American flag.

"It was a demonstration of solidarity with the victims; I did not have political goals. Now," he says jokingly, "If I am captain again, I will wear a regular armband, at most it would say 'Vote for Pagliuca' or 'Pagliuca party'."

Even during the last confrontation with the fans, he was there in the front lines. As soon as the enraged supporters demanded that the team and captain Signori approach the fence at Casteldebole, Pagliuca, as one of the team leaders, went to talk to them to calm the waters. First, as an experienced player, he let the fans have their say. He showed notable self-control, especially since some of the accusations were quite heavy. Then, in a calm voice, he reaffirmed the team's maximum commitment, responding firmly when the issue required it. Very resolute, but also very embittered, so much so that he does not want to return to this discussion a few days later.

"Everything has been said already, and I don't see the need to repeat it. I have already been through similar things at Inter. One night as we left San Siro in a bus, the fans threw stones at us. But the most singular precedent happened to me at the Pinetina [Inter's training center]. We were at the end of the first round, and were headed for relegation. The fans were very angry, and one morning some Inter employees stopped us about one kilometer away from the base to lead us across the fields to a secondary entrance. But the fans had discovered everything and were lying in wait for us. It was like the route to Calvary. All along the way they hurled insults at us. In particular at Bergkamp, Jonk, and Pancev! It even looked like they would have hit us. But this did makea difference: in the second round we won seven consecutive games and got a berth in the UEFA. I understand the fans' anger at the 5-1 loss to Como; even I felt angry, and I still do, but I don't think anything irreversible has happened. Even though some people will not agree with me, Bologna has not given up, we have continued to practice with utmost professionalism, and these are the things that will get us back on track. Don't ask me what happened, we ask each other the same question at the end in the locker room without finding an answer. One thing is for sure: if during the good times we could score with half a shot, now everything is going the other way. There are eight games left, we must push ourselves to get back on track. We will be the first to refuse to accept a meager 40 points guaranteeing Serie A for next year. Even after the slide, Bologna deserves 44-45 points. This would allow us to finish the season without feeling too guilty. Let's look at the calendar: 8 games mean 24 possible points. If we get 14 points, I will be very happy. What we need is two or three victories and some draws. This is not out of our reach, especially because I think a difficult schedule will be in our favor. In the first round, we almost always got the points against strong teams. With the weaker teams, we don't seem to be able to give our best; now that difficult matches are coming up, I'm sure we will do great."

It seemed that the hard times had passed, but then there was the relapse with Como.

"We had been mistaken as well. We had gotten 8 points in four games. Now comes Perugia; they have been in retreat for a week. At home, they beat all the big teams except Juventus, which won undeservedly. We have a lot of good reasons to play well, the presidents of both teams are mad, and now we are going to our retreat, as well. We think it will be very helpful."

Has the break in the championship cooled down everything?

"It has cooled down nothing. In fact, it has been annoying. When you come to a break after a good period, like we did at Christmas, everything goes well. But if it's after a bad period, it becomes a nightmare. We have carried the weight of the 5-1 loss to Como on our shoulders for fifteen days, we're sick of it and we want to get rid of it."

Next year Pagliuca will be here, but many teammates will go other places.

"I don't think so. If we finish the season well, the enthusiasm will return, and the management will think twice before disbanding a group that is doing well. I'm sure that Signori and Cruz will not go away too easily."