• Southampton v Inter Milan, 12.05am (Friday morning in UAE), BeIN Sports
And then there were nine. Managers, that is, in and out through the revolving door that leads to Inter Milan's most important office. Nine managers in the barely six years since Inter were lords of all they surveyed, champions of Europe, with their hands on a fifth successive Serie A scudetto, and a Coppa Italia.
That treble had been secured under Jose Mourinho, who even as he oversaw the last part, the Uefa Champions League final victory in Madrid, was in talks about his next job, at Real Madrid.
On Thursday, Stefano Vecchi will act as Inter’s interim manager for a rather less glamorous European match, away at Southampton in a Europa League group which Inter are currently propping up with three points from three games.
Vecchi, temporarily promoted from the youth team, is expected to give way in the next two weeks to the 10th man in charge of this turbulent institution since Mourinho said farewell.
Whoever that is may want to keep his suitcase near the front of his wardrobe: Only three coaches since 2010 have started and finished a whole campaign in charge of Inter.
Frank de Boer, dismissed on Tuesday, contrived to beat the recent record for brevity, his 84 days in the job six fewer than poor Gian Piero Gasperini was allowed at the beginning of a chaotic 2011/2012 season.
• Frank de Boer sacked as Inter Milan acknowledge 'long line of mistakes'
The indications are that Inter, where the executive structure has lately become as changeable as the manager’s position, favour the appointment of an Italian to succeed De Boer. They want a man who knows the terrain. Analyses of the Dutchman’s failings – De Boer’s Inter lost seven matches of his 14 in charge– centre on his unfamiliarity with Serie A, where he had not played nor managed before.
In the longer term, De Boer, who made his name as a manager with Ajax, will not have his reputation burnt too much by the Inter blemish on his record. This is a club that leaves most managers bruised black and blue, and its institutional difficulties are severe.
A few years back, with Inter stuck in a dry 17-year spell without a scudetto, someone remarked that “this is a football cub that resembles nothing more than Milan Central station’s foyer, with countless comings and goings”.
That meant the turnover of players, chiefly: hectic signings, panicked sellings, and little progress. Inter are in this territory again, but the latest set of newcomers should certainly not be lingering in the bottom half of the Italian top division.
This year alone, Inter have staffed an entire midfield with apparently stellar players: Ever Banega, the Argentine, Antonio Candreva, the Italian, and Marcelo Brozovic, the Croatian, all performed with distinction for their countries at the summer’s Copa America or European Championship, a tournament which Joao Mario, of Portugal, won, just before his €40 million (Dh163m) signing for Inter.
In came Gabriel Barbosa, alias “Gabigol”, fresh with his Olympic gold medal for Brazil, to add potency up front and form a potentially appetising partnership with Inter captain Mauro Icardi. High hopes, then, ahead of this season, except that there were also big black clouds obscuring the blue skies.
Inter’s big-spending habits have put them in trouble with Uefa’s financial guidelines on debt, so several of the new signings are ineligible for the Europa League. De Boer also arrived late, after the sudden resignation of Roberto Mancini in the summer.
Up at the top, there was more change. The Indonesian businessman, Erick Thohir, who had became the lead shareholder in 2013, sold a majority stake to the Chinese Suning company in June. Thohir remains president but will be consulting his new partners about who is the most suitable manager to lift a stumbling team from 12th in Serie A.
Vecchi is expected to remain in charge for Sunday’s hosting of bottom-of-the-table Crotone, but feelers have been put out towards Stefano Pioli, a man with extensive experience in Italy, most recently at Lazio, the club he left in April.
In the meantime, there is the prospect of Inter edging closer to another goodbye. Lose at Southampton, and they could be four points adrift of staying in European competition come the new year. That Champions League triumph seems a long way in the past.
sports@thenational.ae
