New Coach Gigi De Canio is “ready to bring back confidence” to the shaken Genoa squad after fan protests and the sacking of Alberto Malesani. "On a psychological level, they are rock bottom."
New Coach Gigi De Canio is “ready to bring back confidence” to the shaken Genoa squad after fan protests and the sacking of Alberto Malesani. "On a psychological level, they are rock bottom."
The club is in disarray after the events of Sunday afternoon, when Genoa were 4-0 down at home to Siena and ultras staged a protest halting the game for 40 minutes while they demanded the players remove their jerseys.
Malesani was fired for the second time this season and replaced by De Canio, who began training ahead of Wednesday’s match with Milan.
“Why did I accept? Because I already knew the environment and President Enrico Preziosi,” De Canio told Tuttomercatoweb.
“We spoke and he presented the situation to me, explaining his difficulties. I have always had a good rapport with him and at the end he convinced me to accept this challenge.
“I haven’t actually seen Sunday’s game with Siena, as I only saw bits of it on television. If the situation weren’t difficult, then they would not have called me.
“Clearly on a psychological level the team is rock bottom. There is no magic way of resolving all problems just like that. My predecessors did good work, but what I can do is try to bring confidence back to the squad.”
Technically this is the fourth different stint on the bench this season, as Malesani was replaced by Pasquale Marino from January to the start of April, then returned only to be sacked again.
“Do Genoa risk relegation? At this moment, the Grifone are the side with the most problems,” confessed De Canio.
“They are without a win since the start of February, while Lecce have performed a miracle just to get back into contention.
“Faced with what happened on Sunday, we must find the moral strength to turn the tide around. The points with Milan will be important, as the League is wide awake in every area of the table. Nobody gives anything away and we must fight to the bitter end.”