Zamparini launches attack on Ancelotti
Reuters - Friday 12 October 2012, 16:29
Flamboyant Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has launched a fierce attack on Paris Saint-German boss Carlo Ancelotti, saying that he knows nothing about football.
The outspoken Zamparini, who has a reputation for the outrageous and for sacking managers on a whim, was responding to suggestions during an interview with website calcissimo.com that he had unloaded a flop on PSG when he sold them Argentine midfielder Javier Pastore for 40 million euro.
He quickly turned his ire on the Champions League-winning Ancelotti.
"Pastore is not a flop, Pastore is a phenomenon. Ancelotti does not know anything about football," said Zamparini, who was four weeks into a self-imposed six-month media blackout when he made the outburst.
"And do you know what I say? I'm glad that they lost in the Champions League [1-0 away at Porto], and that hopefully he'll learn not to play Nene in place of Pastore. I don't rate him as a manager.
"Pastore is still a young lad of 23 years who has found himself surrounded by the wrong people, but he remains a phenomenon."
Ancelotti is a four-times winner of the European Cup, having won it twice as an AC Milan player and twice as the club's manager.
He has also won the Serie A title with AC Milan and, during his two-year spell with European champions Chelsea, won the Premier League and FA Cup double before being sacked at the end of the second trophy-less season.
Zamparini's volatile relationship with coaches has earned him the nickname "Manager-Eater" and he has fired 41 coaches since moving into football 26 years ago.