Montella not feeling like caretaker coach
Reuters - Tuesday 22 February 2011, 17:40
ROME - New AS Roma coach Vincenzo Montella
said he did not feel like a caretaker on his first full day in
charge on Tuesday but striker Adriano immediately tested his
mettle by not turning up for training.
Former striker and youth-team boss Montella, whose first
game in charge is at Bologna on Wednesday, signed a contract
until the end of the season after Claudio Ranieri quit on Sunday
following the team's 4-3 loss at Genoa.
"I don't feel like a caretaker," Montella told his first
news conference, aware of media reports linking Roma fan Carlo
Ancelotti with the job if his Chelsea side continue to stutter.
"At the same time, the rumours don't annoy me. To tell you
the truth, I'm not annoyed that people are talking about
Ancelotti, a person who I look up to a lot."
Montella, nicknamed the "little aeroplane" for his goal
celebration, spent most of his latter years at Roma as a
substitute and showed he has not lost his famous sense of
humour.
"I reckon I've been on more benches in Serie A than many
coaches, so I've got a bit of experience," he chuckled.
Adriano's failure to report back to Italy as scheduled after
spending the last few weeks in Brazil recovering from a broken
arm was no laughing matter, however.
The striker quit Inter Milan to return to Brazil two years
ago because of personal problems and Roma knew they were taking
a risk bringing him back to Serie A.
Agent Gilmar Rinaldi told Italian media: "Only he knows what
he wants to do."