“Hello again old friend. Long time, no sack”
It’s official. Palermo’s delightfully zany owner Maurizio Zamparini has gone and sacked coach Giuseppe Iachini for the THIRD time this season, which surely must be some sort of record.
Palermo had actually managed to haul themselves off the foot of the Serie A since the last time we dipped in, but a run of seven games without a win has seen coach Iachini – who was only brought back into the fold in late January – succumb to Zamparini’s infamously sensitive trigger finger once again.
Apparently Zamparini fired Iachini for refusing to abandon his “loser mentality”, i.e, approaching games with his favoured 5-3-2 formation.
Allow us to fill in back-story for you. Iachini was first sacked back in November in the immediate aftermath of a 1-0 win over Chievo. He was then replaced by Davide Ballardini, who lasted a full seven games before being relieved of his duties, only to be replaced by Iachini once again.
Iachini, however, made the fatal error of requesting a few signings to bolster the squad. Zamparini threw a wobbler and cancelled his contract before promptly rehiring Ballardini just three days after letting him go.
(Are you still following? Feel free to take a moment if you need one)
Ballardini then proceeded to lose the dressing room to the extent that he was outright refusing to talk to his players come mid-January, at which point he was sacked by Zamparini once again and replaced by – you guessed it, Beppe Iachini!
Iachini was then remained in charge for a whopping 57 days (nine games) until today’s big announcement.
Madness gone mad.