AC Milan fire coach Montella
Former midfielder Gattuso takes over Italian club
Big-spending AC Milan sacked coach Vincenzo Montella on Monday and replaced him with their fiery former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.
Montella was dismissed one day after a goalless home draw with Torino left Milan, who spent more than 200 million euros ($239 million) on transfers in the close season, seventh in Serie A with 20 points from 14 games, 18 behind leaders Napoli.
The famously combative Gattuso, a World Cup winner in 2006, became Milan’s sixth coach since Massimiliano Allegri was fired in January 2014.
Montella, the first coach to go since former Italian prime minster Silvio Berlusconi sold the club to a Chinese-led consortium in a 740 million euro deal in April, had been in charge since the start of last season when he led them to sixth place in Serie A.
Gattuso, 39, spent 12 seasons playing for Milan, winning two Serie A, two Champions League and one Club World Cup titles, and was known as one of Italy’s toughest players.
His coaching career has been a mixed bag, although never dull.
He began at Swiss firstdivision side Sion in 2013 but was sacked after three months, before joining Italian Serie B club Palermo who fired him after six games.
In 2014, he tried his luck with Greek Super League side OFI Crete who were beset by financial problems and, according to Gattuso, were “struggling to feed their players.”
He lasted six months, during which he gave an infamous expletive-ridden news conference when he banged his fist on the table repeatedly and said, in broken English, that he expected his players to “play with balls.”
He moved to Pisa in the third tier of Italian soccer, won promotion to Serie B at the first attempt in 2015-16 and said it was as good as winning the Champions League with Milan.
Milan, 18-time Italian champions, enjoyed a golden age under Berlusconi but his last few years as president became a story of unsuccessful transfers, mid-table finishes and musical chairs in the coach’s seat.
Chinese ownership heralded a change of direction symbolized by the decision to spend around 40 million euros to sign experienced Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci from champions Juventus. Younger recruits included Portuguese striker Andre Silva, right back Andrea Conti, Swiss left back Ricardo Rodriguez and Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.