TNT Sports
Trapattoni sacked
By
Published 10/02/2006 at 07:25 GMT
VfB Stuttgart have sacked their Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni, the seventh-placed Bundesliga club said in a statement late on Thursday. Trapattoni, a former Italy coach who led Stuttgart to 27 points in 20 matches, is the ninth manager in the 18-team
Eurosport
Image credit: TNT Sports
They have scored only 21 goals this season, none in the last three games, and Trapattoni's emphasis on defence after years of high-scoring Stuttgart teams attracted widespread criticism.
"Giovanni Trapattoni is an absolute gentleman and one of the most successful trainers in the world," said VfB president Erwin Staudt in a statement late on Thursday.
"Nevertheless, his work with the team has not been as efficient and successful as we had hoped."
Trapattoni's assistant Andreas Brehme was also fired and Stuttgart are due to name their new coaching team later on Friday.
Former Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick, who is from Stuttgart, is a leading candidate, according to media reports.
Trapattoni, 66, came under pressure in December but his team won two matches before the winter break. Their main target is a top-five finish to return to the UEFA Cup next season.
They have reached the UEFA Cup's group phase and face Middlesbrough next week.
GLITTERING CAREER
Trapattoni has had a glittering managerial career and his broken German style of speaking brought him a cult following in the country where he also coached Bayern Munich in the 1990s.
Trapattoni stepped down as Benfica coach in May after steering them to their first Portuguese championship for 11 years and joined Stuttgart a month later.
The Portuguese championship was his ninth league title in a long career with several European clubs, including six Serie A titles with Juventus. He has won three UEFA Cups, a Cup Winners' Cup and secured Juventus's first European Cup triumph in 1985.
As a defender with AC Milan Trapattoni won the European Cup in 1963 and 1969 and two Serie A titles.
His coaching career has also taken him to AC and Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Cagliari. His first spell in Munich ended after one season in 1995 with complaints that he had difficulty with the language.
He returned a year later, however, and led Bayern to the German title.
He was appointed Italy coach in 2000 but the side failed to sparkle, losing to South Korea in the second round of the 2002 World Cup and failing to get past the group stage at Euro 2004.
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement