Soccer: Gattuso replaces Ancelotti at Napoli

(ANSA) - Naples, December 11 - Napoli said Wednesday that they have appointed Gennaro Gattuso as their new coach after sacking coach Carlo Ancelotti on Tuesday.
    Ancelotti was fired even though Napoli beat Genk 4-0 to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League.
    Ancelotti has paid the price for Napoli's poor form in Serie A, where they lie in seventh place, 17 points behind leaders Inter, after a seven game winless run. He had been in charge of the Naples side for a year and a half. "SSC Napoli has taken the decision to part ways with first-team coach Carlo Ancelotti," the club's website said.
    "The friendship and mutual respect between the club, President Aurelio De Laurentiis and Carlo Ancelotti remain intact".
    Gattuso, whose last coaching job was at AC Milan, told a press at the club's training centre at Castel Volturno: "I come from the sea (the Calabrian coast) but now I risk drowning".
    He said Napoli's seventh spot was "embarrassing, and we will rise up the table again".