Gian Piero Gasperini leaves Inter after 5 games
Gian Piero Gasperini was let go as coach of Inter Milan on Wednesday after only five games in charge of the Serie A club.
The club announced his departure a day after Inter's humiliating 3-1 loss to newly promoted Novara. That left Inter with one point from three Serie A games and winless under Gasperini.
The 2010 Italian champions lost 1-0 to Turkish side Trabzonspor in the Champions League last week, and were beaten by AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup to begin Gasperini's short reign.
"Results dictate everything," said Gasperini, who took over in June. "I really regret it, and I think everyone regrets it."
Inter thanked Gasperini for his work and said it was sorry things did not work out. Daniele Bernazzani and Giuseppe Baresi were named temporary coaches; there was no immediate word on a full-time successor.
Heading into a meeting to decide Gasperini's fate, club president Massimo Moratti made clear he was not pleased with Inter's performance and that there was little other choice but to let Gasperini go.
"His situation seems very difficult, from all points of view," Moratti said.
Speaking of the Novara loss, he added: "When you lose like this, in the end there was nothing to like."
Against Novara — which was making its home debut after a 55-year absence from the top division — Inter made a series of defensive errors and its midfielders were unable to keep up with their opponents' pace.
Local media were already speculating that former Chelsea and Roma coach Claudio Ranieri could be called in as a replacement for Gasperini; or that Moratti could hand the squad over to former Inter player Luis Figo, who currently has an executive role with the club.
Inter has a busy schedule in the coming days, playing at Bologna on Saturday then traveling to Russia three days later to face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, with a big match against Napoli at the San Siro the following weekend.
Gasperini led Genoa up from the second division in 2007, then qualified the club for the Europa League with a fifth-place finish in 2009, but was fired in November after gaining only 11 points in the first 10 matches of last season.
His only previous coaching experience with a major club came with Juventus' youth squad in 1994, winning the prestigious Viareggio youth tournament.
Gasperini was Inter's third coach since Jose Mourinho left for Real Madrid after winning Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Champions League in 2010. Rafa Benitez struggled during the first half of last season and was replaced by Leonardo, who then unexpectedly left for an executive position at Paris Saint-Germain in June.
Inter opened the Serie A season with a 4-3 loss by Palermo, conceding four goals for the first time in a league match in more than seven years. Its only decent performance came in a 0-0 draw at home with Roma last weekend.
Gasperini was widely criticized for trying to impose a three-man defense on Inter, and for playing Wesley Sneijder out of his preferred position.
Inter's struggles can also be assigned to the sudden departure of the squad's top striker, Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroon international left for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala last month.
Newly signed forwards Diego Forlan and Mauro Zarate have yet to make an impact.