Del Neri to push Palermo on
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Article summary
US Città di Palermo have appointed Luigi Del Neri as coach after Francesco Guidolin felt he had taken the UEFA Cup qualifiers as far as he could.
Article body
New beginning
Del Neri, who has signed a two-year contract, had been without a club since resigning his post at AS Roma in March. The former AC Chievo Verona coach has had a turbulent season, joining European champions FC Porto in June before leaving two months later for "personal reasons", without leading them in a competitive game. He then took charge at Roma in September.
'Perfect replacement'
The 54-year-old Del Neri will have a hard act to follow in replacing Guidolin, who was a crowd favourite at the Renzo Barbera stadium and has just steered the Sicilian side to the UEFA Cup by virtue of a sixth-place finish in Serie A. "We reached an agreement this afternoon," said Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini. "We lost a very good coach but we found the perfect replacement."
Time is right
After guiding Palermo to European football in their first term back in the top flight, Guidolin said: "I prefer to stop now. I don't think I can achieve better results with Palermo. This is the best time for me to leave. Next season I will come here to watch the first UEFA Cup game wearing a rosa-nero shirt."
