Inter part company with Ranieri
Reuters - Monday 26 March 2012, 20:29
Crisis-hit Inter Milan parted company
with coach Claudio Ranieri after six months on Monday, hours
after club president Massimo Moratti had said the beleaguered
coach was likely to stay on.
Ranieri left after a weekend defeat by old rivals Juventus,
their sixth loss in 10 games in all competitions, left them
struggling to qualify for next season's Champions League.
The Serie A club said on their website that Ranieri had left
his post and Andrea Stramaccioni, who was on the coaching staff,
would take temporary charge of the team, becoming Inter's third
coach of the season.
"The President Massimo Moratti and all FC International
would like to thank Claudio Ranieri and his staff for their
professionalism and dedication and sincerity in recent months at
the helm of the team," a club statement said.
Ranieri, the former Chelsea, Valencia, Juventus and AS Roma
manager, took over at Inter last September but the side have
struggled and are eighth in Serie A, 10 points behind
third-placed Lazio who are in the final Champions League spot.
Inter Milan won the Champions League, Serie A and Italian
Cup treble in 2010 under coach Jose Mourinho, who left
immediately afterwards, and claimed the Serie A title five
seasons in a row from 2006.
However, they have struggled since with an ageing team and
twice this season broke the record for fielding the oldest side
in the Champions League. Their team in the first game of the last tie against Olympique Marseille had an average age
of 31 years and 331 days.
Ranieri replaced Gian Piero Gasperini who was in charge for
only five competitive matches, and was their fourth coach since
Mourinho's departure, the club having parted company with Rafael
Benitez and Leonardo last season
Moratti had suggested earlier on Monday that Ranieri would
see out the season.
"I think so," Moratti told reporters when asked if Ranieri
would stay in charge for the rest of the campaign.
"Of course [the Juventus defeat] is a blow, it's also a rather
undeserved defeat given the way we played in the first half, but
seeing as we didn't score a goal, then obviously you can also
concede."
Inter's only glimmer of hope this term has been the youth
team winning a competition in London at the weekend and Moratti
suggested it was time to give some of them a chance at senior
level.
"I'm not the coach but I think there are already three or
four who could feature for a few minutes, perhaps even more," he
said.
Ranieri had previously defended his decision to bank on
experience, saying young players could buckle easily under the
pressure at the San Siro.
Ranieri made a slow start but a run of seven consecutive
Serie A wins in December and January, including a 1-0 victory
over neighbours AC Milan, suddenly had them talking of
challenging for the title.
Instead, Inter suffered a dramatic loss of form which also
included Champions League elimination at the hands of Olympique
Marseille.