Former Inter Coach Gigi Simoni has criticised Roberto Mancini’s man-management skills and the “strange” behaviour at his old club.
The Italian football world was left rather confused this week when Mancio (pictured) announced he was quitting the Nerazzurri at the end of this season only to retract less than 24 hours later.
The incident happened amid rumours of touchline bust-ups with Luis Figo, Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as the Portuguese legend reportedly refused to come on as a substitute against Liverpool.
“I have always been very clear – I asked my players not to insult me, because I would not accept it,” explained Simoni to Il Giornale newspaper.
“If I saw that there was a risk of that happening with someone, I wouldn’t let him play. Football players are convinced they cannot be treated in a certain fashion, so it’s best to let them understand how things are immediately.”
This is not the first time there has been talk of in-fighting at the Nerazzurri and Simoni admits they haven’t had the best track record in terms of discipline.
“It's strange. Ronaldo asked to leave when Hector Cuper put him on the bench. Taribo West threw his shirt at Mircea Lucescu. Marcello Lippi said he wanted to give the entire squad a kick up the backside.
“I have to say none of this happened to me. Should I worry? Maybe I was just lucky.”
Now Inter are out of the Champions League and their Serie A lead has been whittled down to six points.
“I think every game from now until the end of the season suddenly becomes more difficult. This really has not helped, but six points for a strong side like Inter are a lot.”
