.
.
.
.
.

Football: Lippi-Inter, an unavoidable separation In the end, the man of Providence has failed, too. And with him the whole Inter management that considered him as the focal point for the team reconstruction. After little more than a year of stormy relationships, Marcello Lippi has been dismissed from his post as trainer of Inter, perhaps the most troublesome charge in Italy, at least in the last ten years.  In his seven years of leadership, Moratti has thus changed nine trainers. But Inter supporters will hardly tolerate the last dismissal.  It is worth remembering in short the steps that took Lippi to train Inter in order to better understand how the current situation of the Milan-based club is characterized by deception and resignation. Let us start from the 1997-98 season, when Juventus wins the championship after the notorious match played at the "Delle Alpi" stadium, during which the referee denies a crystal clear penalty for a foul against Ronaldo. Gigi Simoni, then the Inter coach, has to accept the second place after Juventus. But he manages to win the Uefa Cup beating Lazio in the Paris finals. Despites these targets, Moratti has already decided to dismiss his trainer in case Lazio beat Inter. In these days, Zaccheroni is waiting for Moratti calling him. Yet, the Paris triumph convinces Inter managers to reappoint Simoni. But at the beginning of the next season the disagreements between the trainer and the president have already appeared and Moratti, making a hazardous choice, decides to dismiss Gigi with the pretext that he plays a waiting game.  Then comes Lucescu, a mediocre Rumanian trainer who is soon involved in the play of spites of the team, and who leaves the club before the end of the season. The new trainer hired at the end of the season, when there are only few matches to play, is Roy Hodgson, an English who resembles more Stan Laurel than a winning coach, and who had already been dismissed by Moratti two years before. At this point supporters begin to have some doubts about the president's mental health; yet, Moratti has an ace up his sleeve, i.e. his goal is to engage Marcello Lippi, the trainer who has started again a winning cycle for Juventus.  And thus Inter supporters, in the hope that their team recovers, have to accept a coach who has trained their detested rivals. But this is not too important now; what Inter desperately needs is the guarantee to come back to the top as soon as possible. And as far as this goal is concerned, Lippi is the trainer with the best possible curriculum.  Everybody knows how things end, this being a recent story. Already at the end of the last season Lippi threatens to resign, suggesting that the initial good relation between the coach and the president has deteriorated. The bitter and unexpected elimination from the Champions League is the last straw: Lippi starts tottering, alternating strong declarations with absolute convictions with others full of resentment and arrogance. His last declarations are particularly meaningful. When Inter wins away against Lecce in the return match of the qualifying heats for Coppa Italia, thus rallying the disappointing home match, the coach declares: "The team has reacted as I expected. We are growing and players have shown that they believe in my project." But only ten days after Inter loses in Reggio Calabria in the first match of the championship and Lippi declares: "If I were Moratti, I would dismiss the trainer, then I would kick all players out." This dystonia clearly means that Lippi has already lost control of the situation. Moratti's decision is thus inevitable, given that he cannot save whatever possible after hearing such a declaration of impotence. Then the question again: who will save the team? At present Tardelli and Passarella seem to be the most probable candidates, but the chaos and resignation among both supporters and players are clearly visible. The uneasiness of the team does not seem to depend anymore upon the trainer. Maybe the management should analyse the situation more exhaustively to understand that not always money and affection could be strong points for the team. If Berlusconi has left his beloved creature in Galliani's hands, there must be a reason. And the current good situation of Milan is even more in contrast with that of Inter.  It is also necessary to add that managers are not totally to be blamed for the current disaster. It is sad to admit it, but Lippi, too, has greatly contributed to his dismissal. He will not be certainly regretted by journalists and TV reporters for his arrogant and overconfident behaviour that sometimes even turned into bad manners. And all that with his team unable to win. And everybody knows that if one wins, people is ready to forgive him. On the contrary, popularity ratings usually go down even for gentlemen. Always referring to Milan situation, just look at the dispute between Zaccheroni and Berlusconi of last summer, a quarrel that now, with the first important wins by Milan, appears to be very far. Paolo Ghisoni

.
 Leadership Medica^®
Mensile di scienza  medica e attualita`
 Copyright 1997© All Rights Reserved