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.
They finished runners up to Juve in the last two
seasons.
Ancelotti's position had been in doubt since early November,
when the players rebelled against a week-long 'ritiro' training
camp that had been imposed on them after a poor run of results,
much to the annoyance of Chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis.
"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".
Ancelotti, who has won league titles as a coach in Italy,
England, France and Germany and the Champions League three
times, twice with Milan and once with Real Madrid, had been in
charge of the Naples side for a year and a half.
So Napoli are swapping an experienced winner with someone
with potential but little in terms of a track record.
Gattuso's last coaching job was at AC Milan.
He left at the end of last season after a mixed campaign in
which the Milan giants missed out on Champions League
qualification.
He has also had stints with Sion, Palermo, OFI Crete and
Pisa, whom he led to promotion to Serie B.
Inter Milan, meanwhile, are licking their wounds after they
crashed out of the Champions League with a 2-1 home defeat to
Barcelona on Tuesday.
Romelu Lukaku was on target for the hosts but he also failed
to put away several good changes and they had three goals
disallowed for offside too.
Inter have been demoted to the Europa League after finishing
third in Group F behind Barca and Borussia Dortmund.
"I think we deserved more in this group," coach Antonio Conte
said. "Still I think it's all valuable experience.
"We wanted to qualify, so there is disappointment from
everyone right now, but as I told them, we have to raise our
heads again".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
