GettyImagesZdenek Zeman's future has been the subject of conjecture

While other clubs were out buying the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Mario Balotelli, and Nicolas Anelka, Roma somehow managed to take the spotlight in hammering home the "silly" part of "silly season", while bringing in just a single player (so far - the window closes today). And even that acquisition was a surprise, given how adamant transfer director Walter Sabatini was that no one would be brought into the club this January.

This side's deficiencies are well-known and well-documented. Multiple things aren't working and the 8^th-place Serie A standing accurately reflects the weaknesses of a side that has trouble finishing chances and a glaring inability to maintain a lead. On the pitch, there's a healthy amount of depth - reinforced by Roma's sole signing of the month, Vasilis Torosidis - but a number of areas lack veritable quality. The side are, realistically, about three starters away from being a truly classy team, but the most pressing issue - that neither goalkeeper is really performing up to par – went unaddressed this month.

The club did confront one thing: Zdenek Zeman's position. At first, it seemed like the coach was certainly on his way out following another disappointing result against Bologna when Walter Sabatini said his position was under review. One meeting later and the club suddenly changed their stance - Roma and Zeman would face their challenges "together". It's quite honestly a baffling change of heart and looks somewhat odd. Would it not have made more sense for Roma and Zeman to meet first and discuss the season before publicly questioning the coach?

Perhaps, but rumours suggest that a mental game was at hand. Roma, so these rumours say, made it seem like Zeman's position was under attack so the coach would cave into the hierarchy's demands in the subsequent meeting. The key to those demands is to play Daniele De Rossi and Maarten Stekelenburg. Of course, these being just rumours, it's impossible to say what really occurred. A very telling sign, however, would be the return of Stekelenburg in goal after a long absence and a public outcry against the club for being benched.

The Netherlands' keeper would have to perform well above the standard he's shown at Roma thus far to prevent the club from needing a new number one this summer. Perhaps now, knowing he has at least the backing of those high up in the club, the Dutchman will play like a keeper full of confidence and commitment. Zeman made it clear, however, that the goalie cannot communicate with his backline due to his failure to learn Italian – a lesson that he should've learned easily by now. For comparison's sake, Michael Bradley went to Chievo the same year that Stekelenburg was brought to Roma. Both have been in Italy for the same amount of time and the American speaks Italian nearly perfectly. Stekelenburg doesn't know enough of the language to communicate with the rest of his side (though the fact that the backline is composed of one Italian, two Brazilians, and a Paraguayan on most matchdays may make that difficult at any rate).

Roma has come out of the transfer window a marginally stronger team. Torosidis, assuming he acclimatises to Serie A, is a solid fullback and one that can provide cover for both Federico Balzaretti and Ivan Piris. But he has been criticised harshly in the press for the way that the Zeman situation was handled. Many questions still remain unanswered: Does the midfield have enough quality? Is Panagiotis Tachtsidis too raw to start matches for a club with so much ambition and under an equal amount of pressure? Is Zeman the long-term coach for this side? Is he even the short term one?

The rest of the season will provide proof enough, but a win over Cagliari on Friday would be a good suggestion that the meeting maybe helped Roma to clear the air and progress forward. And it would really silence the critics if this time it wasn't awarded by the FIGC.

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