MONTELLA OUT, GATTUSO IN
Italian giants Milan ring in changes to stop slide
BIG-SPENDING AC Milan sacked coach Vincenzo Montella on Monday and replaced him with their fiery former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.
Montella was dismissed the day after a 0-0 home draw with Torino left Milan, who spent more than €200 million (RM977 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 deal in April, had been in charge since the start of last season when he led Milan to sixth place in Serie A.
“In these situations, the coach is always to blame and that’s fair enough,” Montella told reporters as he left Milan’s training ground.
Gattuso, 39, spent 12 seasons playing for Milan, winning two Serie A and two Champions League titles plus the Club World Cup, and was known as one of Italy’s toughest players.
Milan, 18-times Italian champions, enjoyed a golden age under Berlusconi but his last few years as president became a story of unsuccessful transfers, midtable finishes and musical chairs in the coach’s seat.
Chinese ownership heralded a change of direction symbolised by the decision to spend about €40 million to sign experienced Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci from champions Juventus.
Younger recruits included Portuguese striker Andre Silva, right back Andrea Conti, a product of Atalanta’s impressive youth scheme, Switzerland left back Ricardo Rodriguez and Turkish midfielder and free kick specialist Hakan Calhanoglu.
The new-found optimism was apparent at Milan’s first home match of the season when a 65,000-crowd turned up at San Siro on a stifling August evening for a Europa League tie against modest Romanian side Universitatea Craiova.
Milan, seven-times European champions, won their first six competitive games but quickly lost their spark and Sunday’s match was their fourth home league game in a row without scoring.