Ballardini in at Palermo

Former Cagliari boss Ballardini had been heavily linked with the vacant post at Upton Park due to his close friendship with Hammers' technical director Gianluca Nani and was even rated as the second favourite with the bookmakers behind Slaven Bilic.

Colantuono was given his marching orders by the Sicilian club just one game into the season - the 2-2 draw at Siena on Sunday.

The club said in a statement: "Palermo have dismissed coach Stefano Colantuono. Davide Ballardini will guide the team from today's training session."

Colantuono's sacking should come as no surprise as Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini is not renowned for his patience. He has now fired 27 coaches during his time in the game.

Colantuono has already experienced his wrath after being dismissed by Zamparini in November after three months in charge only to be reinstated in May.

Palermo endured a frustrating summer in the transfer market having missed out on their top target, Brazilian striker Nilmar, following protracted negotiations.

The inactivity has translated itself into apathy among the supporters with only 16,000 season tickets sold, much to Zamparini's annoyance.

He said: "It's not a case of money but of support for the team.

"Had I built a team like that of Reggina the Palermo citizens would have been right but I expected at least 23,000 season tickets for what I have spent.

"It's not possible that a city like Palermo only has 16,000 season ticket holders.

"At Napoli, in Serie C, there were 60,000 season ticket holders and even Reggina has more than we do."

Ballardini will take charge of Palermo for the first time when they host Roma on September 14.