Pirlo facing Sampdoria sack with Italian giants in Serie B relegation zone
Andrea Pirlo could be sacked by Sampdoria after just nine games in charge, with the former Serie A champions at risk of suffering back-to-back relegations.
Sampdoria were relegated to Serie B after finishing bottom of the league last season with just 19 points. A consortium including former Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani bought Sampdoria from Massimo Ferrero back in May, essentially saving the financially stricken club.
They then appointed former AC Milan and Juventus midfielder Pirlo as their manager in June, with Sampdoria looking to bounce back and push for promotion to Serie A. However, after starting the new campaign with back-to-back wins in the Coppa Italia and Serie B, Sampdoria have failed to pick up a victory in any of their last seven matches.
They have not won a single league game at home this season and, following their latest 2-1 defeat to US Catanzaro, Calciomercato claim that Pirlo is on the verge of being sacked. Sampdoria are currently second bottom, having been deducted two points due to financial problems under their former owner.
Fans started to protest during Sampdoria's loss to Catanzaro, but the report states that the club plan to stick with Pirlo 'at least until the next match against Ascoli on Saturday. This is because there is an international break after that game, which would allow Sampdoria to appoint a replacement away from the added pressure of matchdays.
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Filippo Inzaghi and Fabio Liverani are both said to be on the club's radar as potential replacements for Pirlo. Speaking after the Catanzaro loss, Pirlo said: "It's difficult to comment on these types of defeats after every game. We had taken the lead, then they managed to equalise with a half cross, with defensive indecision.
"Everything becomes more difficult, but we must not look for alibis, we know that this is the moment. We must not let our guard down, we must be more concentrated and try to get out of this situation together. We had the opportunities, but in football whoever scores goals wins and we were unable to do so.
Sampdoria are currently second bottom in Serie B (Simone Arveda/Getty Images)"The situation at the moment is this, we must try to stay united and try to get out of it quickly. We must try to be positive and not get caught up in this fear that we see and feel when we play. At the moment we are fragile and cannot win."
Despite a legendary playing career that saw him win two Serie A titles and two Champions Leagues at AC Milan before winning a further four league titles at Juventus, Pirlo's management career has not been much of a success so far. Nine days after he was put in charge of Juventus' under-23s, Pirlo was given the first-team job after Maurizio Sarri was sacked.
However, Juventus finished fourth in his sole season in charge and he was sacked, with Massimiliano Allegri returning to replace him. Pirlo then had a stint in charge of Turkish club FatihKaragumruk, but he was axed with three games left in the season with the club 35 points off league leaders Galatasaray.
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