Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Roberto Mancini Sacked at Inter Milan; Special One in Line?


It's all but official that Roberto Mancini has been sacked at Inter Milan and gadfly Jose Mourinho is in the wings waiting to take over. The Telegraph reports that Mancini--back-to-back-to-back Scudetto winner--was let go last night and that Mourinho "can't wait to start." The International Herald Tribune has confirmation of Mancini's firing from the coach's agent Giorgio De Giorgis.

"The president had this idea to change, I don't know what the reason was, but it's over now and there's no going back. Did Mancini expect it? No, certainly not."

IHT also tosses Mancini's name into the Chelsea manager sweepstakes. No huge surprise there. Three straight championships don't buy the job security they used to. Mancini takes a 30 million pound payoff with him. Goal.com blames a player revolt for the dismissal, citing discord with Adriano, Patrick Vieira, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hernan Crespo and Luis Figo.

Mancini is 43, has coached twice at Lazio (he played for the Rome club as well) and at Fiorentina. He made 36 national team appearances for Italy, and played the majority of his career at Sampdoria where he scored 173 goals.

The Offside looks at Inter's three titles under Mancini, and seems to suggest that they had a lot to do with the bribery scandal that gripped Italy earlier this decade.

Soccer Statistics points out Mancini's shortcomings in the Champions League.

Football Transfer bemoans Mancini's departure, and wants the Special One elsewhere in Italy.

1 comment:

semper_ubi_sub_ubi said...

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