Walter Novellino appealed to Palermo fans after they threw fireworks in a 3-0 home defeat to Lazio. “I don’t have a magic wand.”

The Rosanero remain in the relegation zone and will face heavy fines following the crowd trouble at the Stadio Barbera.

Play had to be suspended three times for fireworks and paper bombs thrown on to the pitch, including one that exploded just seconds after Antonio Candreva ran over it.

Walter Novellino appealed to Palermo fans after they threw fireworks in a 3-0 home defeat to Lazio. “I don’t have a magic wand.”

The Rosanero remain in the relegation zone and will face heavy fines following the crowd trouble at the Stadio Barbera.

Play had to be suspended three times for fireworks and paper bombs thrown on to the pitch, including one that exploded just seconds after Antonio Candreva ran over it.

Even after the final whistle, around 300 Palermo fans waited outside the stadium for the team bus.

“I won’t give up,” Novellino told Mediaset Premium and Sky Sport Italia.

“Obviously this is not a happy situation. This is the campaign we are having. We have many young players and had started the game well, but after that goal at the first chance our heads dropped.

“We never went one-on-one with the full-backs, we allowed too much room down the wings. We went too narrow, which against Keita Balde Diao and Antonio Candreva is inadvisable.

“Right now the team is above all suffering psychologically, so we prepare well and then as soon as we concede it all falls apart. We become unable to do the things we can so easily in training.”

Since taking over, he has managed just one point from four games, scoring one goal and conceding seven.

Palermo also kept an average of 36 per cent possession, worse than any other Serie A side in the same period.

“We need to bring something to the fans, but we need them too. The statistics don’t back us up and I will admit I wasn’t expecting it to be this difficult, but I don’t have a magic wand.

“If the team can bring out that character, it can emerge from this situation. We played really well against Napoli and Empoli, but we are lacking self-belief. Clearly it is not a positive moment for us.

“Our heads are down, the environment around us wasn’t helping either, especially as we have many young players who are not accustomed to this sort of situation. Even then, I expected more tonight.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector