|
Former Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti says it was the choice of his successor Erick Thohir to appoint Roberto Mancini to replace Walter Mazzarri, who was sacked by the Serie A club on Friday. The Serie A club have yet to confirm Mancini's appointment officially, but Moratti says that the decision has been taken and that the former Manchester City manager is the right choice to turn around the club's fortunes after a difficult start to the season. "I'm delighted for Mancini," Moratti is quoted as saying by Il Corriere dello Sport. "He's a very good coach, a great worker and this is what was necessary right now." Moratti stepped down from his position of Inter's honorary president last month, although he still holds a stake in the club and met with Thohir on Monday, the day after Inter's 2-2 draw with Hellas Verona which secured Mazzarri's fate. The future of the former Reggina, Sampdoria and Napoli coach was one of the issues on the agenda at that meeting, even if it has taken a further three days for any action to be taken. "It was already on Thohir's mind, it was not my idea," added Moratti, who had words of praise for his last managerial appointment before selling his majority stake to Thohir. "Of course I'm sorry for Mazzarri because he gave it his best to do well with Inter." Despite leading Inter into the Europa League last season, 16 points from the first 11 games of the current Serie A campaign proved too little for the Nerazzurri's aspirations. In announcing his dismissal, Inter thanked Mazzarri "for his effort, dedication and seriousness with which he has led the squad over these 17 months," adding that Friday's training session "will be led by Giuseppe Baresi." Baresi is only a temporary solution, though, with Mancini set to put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year deal to seal his return to the club he led until just over six years ago. He is expected to be presented at a news conference on Saturday. Between 2004 and 2008, Mancini led the Nerazzurri to three Serie A titles before being sacked by Moratti, who had already agreed to appoint Jose Mourinho after Mancini threatened to quit in March that year. He took over at Manchester City six months later, leading them to their first Premier League title, becoming only the second Italian after Carlo Ancelotti to win the English title. In addition to the three scudettos, Mancini won the Coppa Italia and the Italian Supercoppa twice, winning 140 of his games in charge and losing only 26, drawing the other 60. The 49-year-old has been out of work since leaving Galatasaray in June, citing differences in the club's objectives as his motivation. On Friday afternoon, Mazzarri arrived at Inter's training ground to say his goodbyes to those players not on international duty.
|
